


Fernweh

by FuwaFuwaMedb



Series: Mono No Aware [2]
Category: Fate/EXTRA, Fate/Grand Order, Fate/stay night & Related Fandoms
Genre: Multi, There are other characters but I don't like spoilers, non Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-02
Updated: 2019-10-09
Packaged: 2019-10-20 18:20:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 57,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17627276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FuwaFuwaMedb/pseuds/FuwaFuwaMedb
Summary: Life was nothingness. Four walls of pale blue and a rectangle high above her head that gave off color- the only signs of something in this world of endless numbness and silence. There was nothing human in the room. She was not human.“You possess magic circuits, but they are weak.” The being blinked, almost inhuman-like in how they did it. As though they did it to seem normal. “Yet something feels off. Like you’re asleep instead of awake. How curious.”Side Story to Saudade.





	1. To Be Human

What was it like to be human?  
  
Human beings were known for being curious creatures, investigating their own meaning and purpose in life while they continued to add to the populace. They mated and ate as animals do, but they also engaged in creating new things. Inventions, intelligence, understanding of matters far beyond the interest of animals; human beings pushed forward into the great unknown of the world one step at a time.  
  
They grew from primates, learning to stand on two feet and learning how to exceed expectations.  
  
Each and every human being managed to do more.  
  
They reached forth into the unknown, remembering lessons and people around them. They built cities and forged alliances. They learned the mysteries of the cosmos, learning to command spells and ancient powers that far exceeded mankind.  
  
Human beings were beyond the limitations of other creatures.  
  
Some of them were even beyond the limitations of their fellows.  
  
Looking up at the golden-red color in the small rectangle in the corner of the room, Hakuno found herself once more engaged with the strange light. It wasn’t like the room’s lighting. It felt…  
  
It felt human.  
  
Would it feel warm like her gown did when she first received it back from the laundry room? Would it be cold like the feeling of the metal table by her bed? Would it burn her like the bathroom lights had the one time she had touched them? Perhaps it would chill her to the bones like the room had the night the heat had gone out and she had become gravely sick.  
  
Why did the colors appeal to her?  
  
There was no denying it.  
  
She felt drawn to them. At the night time hours, they would turn a deep color, almost black. The room around her would make it hard to see anything until the nurses would turn off the power. She would sometimes squint, almost making out something amongst the darkness.  
  
And then at dawn, when the nurses would bring her oats, the rectangle would turn a dull purple, slowly turning into a light blue. Sometimes there would be other colors mixed in. It was interesting to see the color options that would appear.  
  
Golds and reds were her favorite.  
  
They were such bold colors.  
  
“Hakuno.”  
  
The color admiration stopped, her eyes drifting again to the woman at the foot of the bed.  
  
Brown hair to her neck. Brown eyes. The woman wore a dark suit, an old fashioned cane was underneath her hands as she stood confidently at the foot of the bed. She almost felt comfortable with the woman there. She would have greeted her, but those eyes…  
  
There was something wrong with those eyes.  
  
Perhaps they were just too human?  
  
“Hakuno,” she called again. “Who am I?”  
  
They had played this game for over fourteen of those color cycles.  
  
Fourteen long, unending color cycles.  
  
“My mommy.”  
  
The woman’s eyes hardened. Her lips thinned. “No, I asked you who I am. Do not answer me with childish titles.”  
  
Was calling her mommy wrong?  
  
Hakuno paused again. Her thoughts roamed over the possible answers she could have wanted. “Ms. Kishinami.”  
  
“She is still useless,” the woman replied, looking towards the others in the room. Nurses. They hovered around the woman like the smell of death near the laboratory areas of this place. Their soft voices echoed off the walls as they all went about cooing and fussing.  
  
“She was sedated this morning after a madness attack.”  
  
“She claimed the doctor was trying to touch her.”  
  
“She will get better.”  
  
“Do not fret over the child just yet. She is still young. She will get better.”  
  
Her mother- no. She did not want to be called childish titles. The woman before her turned, heading for the door. “I asked for a solution to this problem of Amnesia Syndrome, not a useless weapon that cannot cut. As she is, I have no use for her.”  
  
“Mom,” Hakuno leaned upwards, following after the woman with her eyes.  
  
“I am not your mother,” the woman growled. “I am not one who would give birth to an abomination such as you.”  
  
Abomination?  
  
The woman looked over her shoulder. “Get better, Hakuno. Defeat this madness and I will perhaps teach you magic. Perhaps I will find some use for you, even if it is merely fodder for another family to use to their tastes.”  
  
The nurses praised her, brushing off her shoulders slightly as they beckoned her to leave with them.  
  
“What is magic like?”  
  
Hakuno couldn’t help herself. The question escaped before she could stop it, halting the women from leaving. Her mother turned, looking back and shaking her head.  
  
“Please… What is magic like?”  
  
“Hmm?”  
  
“I want to know what magic is like?”  
  
“You want to know what magic is like?”  
  
“I do.”  
  
The woman moved forward, handing her cane over a moment before she was at the foot of the bed again. One of her chained feet were lifted, the woman’s eyes closing a moment before she felt something flowing through her.  
  
Life.  
  
It could be nothing else but life.  
  
Like the feeling of warm water running through her very being, like what she could imagine true happiness felt like; this feeling continued to roam through her being. She felt her cheeks lift, her eyes drifting to the woman again.  
  
This warm feeling in her chest. This energized emotion sweeping through her mind…  
  
What was this?  
  
Was life like this?  
  
“This is magic, child.” The woman leaned forward, holding her foot close. “This is what it feels like to be a Kishinami. You are nothing but a Hakuno. You have no use in learning magic and you have no value of any kind. You are unseemly. You are cold. You are a toy for these people in this place.”  
  
Of course.  
  
But she liked this feeling. This magic.  
  
It felt so good. Nothing and no one had ever given her something like this.  
  
“Do you like this? Useless Hakuno?”  
  
She nodded.  
  
Did she love this? Did the nurses love their lovers and their gossip? Did the doctors love to touch her when others weren’t looking? Did they try to do bad things to her?  
  
Of course.  
  
Every part of her body needed to do more magic. Her mind screamed for it. More. She wanted so much more. She loved magic. She wanted to have that last name, Kishinami. She would do anything to have that name.  
  
“Megami.”  
  
The woman’s eyes gleamed. “Better. Finally respect and remembrance comes from you.”  
  
“I like magic.”  
  
“Get well again and perhaps I will teach you.”  
  
“I don’t know how to get better. The doctor tries to do bad things. He takes my clothes off.” Hakuno frowned as those hands moved away.  
  
No, she didn’t want that to end.  
  
She needed life. She needed the magic!  
  
“Megami!” Hakuno tried to sit up, but the chains from earlier were still in place. She could no more go after her than she could sit up properly. “Megami please! I can learn magic now! I will get better. Just- Don’t let the magic stop.”  
  
“Do not lie about the doctor.” The woman turned away. “I will not teach a liar magic.”  
  
“I’m telling the truth!”  
  
The nurses admonished her. The woman who had made the whole room alight in the feeling that those colors had created in her soul turned away. With her cane soon back in hand, she opened the door.  
  
“Megami! Mommy!”  
  
The door closed behind her, leaving the nurses to growl at her.  
  
Abandoned again.  
  
Yet her body still felt that strange feeling.  
  
That lovely feeling. That amazing newness. The flowing feeling that had run through her had felt like nothing she had ever experienced. The room felt so much bigger. The bed felt so much softer. The air felt so much warmer. Even as it slowly died, there was something new that was sparked.  
  
Yes.  
  
This newness was going to be something she became accustomed to. Every fiber of her being was made for that. Despite being an abomination. Despite being useless. This feeling…  
  
Oh yes. This feeling.  
  
“It’s only due to the magic circuits that she could do any remembering,” one of the nurses mentioned. “Imagine if she were like the others they had tried to put those strange circuits they had uncovered into. She is not human, I tell you.”  
  
“I know.” The other nurse shushed her, turning to her after a moment. “Hakuno, it is sleep time again.”  
  
“I need to stay up. Can you bring my mother back?”  
  
“Don’t you remember her saying you are not her mother?” The nurse shook her head. “Useless children. The Mages Association is wasting their time with you.”  
  
They wouldn’t be though.  
  
She was the abomination that was going to live off of magic. Every single bit that she could find. She would let the magic flow through her veins forever.  
  
“Let’s put you back to sleep.”  
  
“No…” Hakuno looked up at the nurse, pausing. “I don’t want to go back to sleep!”  
  
“Liars don’t get to stay up.”  
  
She could already see the needle. They were already prepared for this. Hakuno tried to shift, moving away from the nurse.  
  
If they couldn’t get close, they wouldn’t be able to put her to sleep. She knew from the other nurses that this killed people at times. Humans couldn’t be put to sleep like this so many times. Yet she wasn’t quite human, was she? She was filled with magic circuits. She was an abomination.  
  
“Hakuno,” the nurse moved closer.  
  
Perfect.  
  
She lunged forward, sinking her teeth into the woman’s arm. She could taste something metallic in her mouth as she heard the roar echo in the room. The nurses were in a panic, yelling out the door for others as they held her down. The tube that had been in her arm came out, her arm aching but she didn’t care.  
  
She would not be put to sleep. She was going to stay up.  
  
There was magic to think about.  
  
There was something beyond these for walls and the colorful rectangle in the top of the room.  
  
Something stabbed into her leg though. The room and the faces around her were melding together. Her eyelids were growing heavy.  
  
Life…  
  
Life was just out of reach. If she could just fight them all off, maybe she could grasp it. Perhaps she could just glimpse something more to that strange and wonderful feeling that was draining from her body just as quickly as it had come.  
  
“Stop…”  
  
Hakuno tried to see the world around her. Everything was going dark.  
  
No.  
  
Her eyelids were closing. She couldn’t stay awake to save her life.  
  
“What is this?”  
  
“Let me go.” Hakuno dug her nails into her palm, forcing her eyelids to open. The pain lanced through her as she saw those dark eyes looking down at her. The strange facial hair, the angled facial features; the doctor had come to the room.  
  
“She won’t go to sleep, doctor. She bit me,” a voice nearby hissed.  
  
“In the morning, I will see to her.”  
  
No.  
  
“MONSTER!” She called out to the man, trying to put all of that feeling she had felt into the word. She had no better word for them. They were a monster!  
  
“She is a mistake,” the nurse from before snarled.  
  
“Now now.” The doctor cooed to the women, “Let us not forget that she is sick. She needs personal attention and I suppose I am the only one who could possibly give it.”  
  
No...  
  
“Doctor, you indulge her too much! Your attention should be given to a wife or girlfriend. When was the last time you went out to dinner?”  
  
“I will soon. I have a friend who will be joining us at the hospital soon. In fact, I will introduce you tomorrow. Perhaps… Perhaps I will even let Hakuno meet them. It might do her some good.”  
  
The world faded.  
  
And then it was back.  
  
It was hard to lift her eyelids up once again, but the rectangle was a very dark grey. She had slumbered for the entire night.  
  
“The doctor would like to see you,” one of the nurses told her. Something poked into her arm. The silence in the room invaded her veins. The world turned that same grey color as the rectangle in the corner of the room. “There we go. Now you are calm at last.”  
  
Her hand was held the moment the nurse had undone all the chains.  
  
It took a moment to be able to walk.  
  
They headed out soon enough though.  
  
Down the strange empty hallway of metal doors. Through the thick doors with windows that held bars. They went all the way through the same cold rooms as her own. She could hear the sounds of crying. They were other patients. They all were human though.  
  
“In with you.” The nurse pushed her to the door, turning away. “I will be back in a few minutes.”  
  
Hakuno nodded, turning the knob and moving into the room.  
  
“Hakuno. There you are.” The doctor grinned, moving forward. “Are you ready?”  
  
“I don’t want to do this.”  
  
“You want to get better, don’t you?” The dark haired man leaned over, “you are old enough to have a boy at this point. Your magic circuits will be able to be utilized to the best of their ability from here on out. I’ve been waiting very patiently for this.”  
  
“Do my circuits matter?”  
  
“Do they- of course. I can heal you.” The doctor grinned, pulling her along.  
  
She didn’t trust him.  
  
Something in the way he stroked her hand as they walked, as he sat her down on his lap to draw her blood again; she didn’t like it. He paused when he was done, wrapping an arm around her waist.  
  
“Hakuno, do you trust me?”  
  
“No.”  
  
“Well, that’s a lie. Do you know what I think of liars?”  
  
Hakuno closed her eyes.  
  
Perhaps if she imagined she was in her room, she would appear there.  
  
His hand moved under the gown.  
  
“Liars don’t get help,” he warned in her ear. “Liars get treated bad-“  
  
She elbowed him.  
  
It just happened at once. Her arm curled to grab his and then flew back, landing square in his face. The blood poured forth a moment before she felt him toss her down. His hands wrapped around her neck, holding her down a moment before she felt something. Her eyes opened, widening as she let out a screech.  
  
His hands were on her stomach, tracing along for a moment before he pressed his hand to the area. A chant came from him, her senses dulling.  
  
She…  
  
Where was she…  
  
Her screaming kept going. This man was horrible. This place was horrible. Death. She wanted to die. There was nothing and no one. There was only this empty feeling.  
  
The nurses came running in, the hand pulling back as the doctor straightened and held his nose.  
  
“She hit me! During a regular blood pressure check!”  
  
She was coughing. The nurses dragged her to her feet, holding her tightly.  
  
“I will come back to you later, little girl,” he told her. Something gleamed in his eyes. It looked like strength. Her family all had that look too. They were so powerful and assertive.  
  
She was too weak for that.  
  
“Get her to her room again. I will see her again this evening. Bring her at ten.”  
  
“Sir!”  
  
“My friend will be here. I will have them assist me.” The doctor grinned. “I have no doubt that she will supply us with more than enough… information.”  
  
Why did it feel like she had lost her strength to him?  
  
A needle entered her arm again as she left the room.  
  
The hallways spiraled around her.  
  
The world went dark again.  
  
“Hakuno.”  
  
Hakuno opened her eyes, staring at the ceiling.  
  
Back in her room again.  
  
The rectangle was dark. The lights in the room were brighter. The nurse moved forward, pressing a needle to her skin.  
  
“The doctor will want her soon!” Another nurse called from the door.  
  
“I know!”  
  
The needle was out. She could feel the liquid on her arm as the nurse stopped paying attention. Her eyes widened a bit as she looked down.  
  
There was no dullness.  
  
“Are you ready?” The nurse looked down, pressing a cotton ball to the entry point on her arm. There was a poked spot there. Yet she hadn’t managed to give her whatever was in that needle this time.  
  
Hakuno nodded.  
  
They always believed her the liar. She would lie now.  
  
This was her chance.  
  
Maybe she could teach that doctor a lesson.  
  
The nurses unshackled her, moving her to her feet. This time, her feet felt firm against the tiles. She could feel the cold, but she would ignore it.  
  
Magic was waiting.  
  
Life was waiting.  
  
This was her only chance. She would take whatever she could from this opportunity.  
  
But how to beat that lecherous doctor who was going to touch her and make her feel so tired? How had he made her body feel weaker? It felt like she had barely recovered from whatever chant he had done.  
  
They moved into the hallway, wandering through the corridors.  
  
The bleached walls and floors shone around her. She could see the door drawing closer as they went. Closer and closer it came.  
  
She was going to do something.  
  
Her heart was beating so hard in her chest at the thought of getting better. Never again would she forget a name or be told no. Never again would she have to be alone in that room. Never again would she have to be an abomination.  
  
After tonight, she could find a way to be human.  
  
“Doctor?”  
  
The nurses knocked on the door.  
  
“Doctor? We brought the girl. It’s ten!”  
  
Silence.  
  
“Set her in there and we’ll look around to make sure he’s not in the vending area,” one of the women suggested. “Maybe we can get him to buy one of us dinner.”  
  
“You’ve got love on the brain,” another teased. “Can you imagine? He’s too brilliant. It would take a miracle to have that happen. I can only wish for such things.”  
  
The nurse holding her arm opened the door, pushing her through.  
  
“Enough,” she told the other nurses. “We’ll leave her. She’s sedated. She’ll be fine.”  
  
Hakuno turned to look back as the door closed. She could hear something click into place, but it was impossible to tell what that sound was.  
  
Turning, her heart could only begin to pick up speed. Her eyes flew over the room as she took a few steps forward.  
  
Blood.  
  
The dark red and black color of the stuff was everywhere. It covered the floor. It clung to the walls. It decorated the room in the form of droplets and lines. It pooled out around the figure on the floor, their head facing away from her.  
  
She had to move forward, just to get a better look.  
  
Yet even as she did, something was going off in her head. Something was begging her to run in the opposite direction. She needed to scream again. She needed to pound on the door until someone came to investigate. They would come in here and take her back.  
  
She needed to leave.  
  
It didn’t make sense though. Why did she need to leave?  
  
Why was there so much blood?  
  
“Useless!” A voice called her, making her turn towards the door again. Her heart was racing as she saw the door ajar. “Sit down and wait for the doctor if you want to get better. We will find him soon!”  
  
“He probably is running home to get something or to the airport to get his friend,” one of the other nurses murmured outside the room.  
  
There was so much blood? How could they not smell it?  
  
Looking around again, she frowned a little.  
  
Something was moving nearby.  
  
The smart thing to do would be to tell the nurses to come into the room. If the figure on the floor was indeed the doctor, then they would need to know. They would need to see.  
  
But if they thought she had done this…  
  
She took a step forward, feeling some of that blood underneath her feet. The squelching sound echoed in the room, making something move again. Something green.  
  
Wasn’t she supposed to be afraid of blood?  
  
Hakuno found herself poised just inside the room, the door latching shut behind her as she stared at what was going on. Gold chains littered the room now that she was not focused on the blood. Said blood coated the metal tables and machines she was supposed to be waiting to use.  
  
Probably anyway, unless the doctor was going to do something like earlier again.  
  
Her doctor had stated for her to come alone.  
  
Again.  
  
After taking her blood and getting close, his eyes looking her over- Well… Now she could see her lecherous doctor was the least of her problems.  
  
A voice called out from the room, a pair of eyes gazing over at her unblinkingly.  
  
“Hello, little one.”


	2. Green Hair

The doctor had chains coming out of every part of him. His mouth was open in a scream or some kind of cry for help as he lay lifeless on the floor. Before him, a being with long green hair stood. Attired in bloodied white rooms, the being turned. Those lifeless eyes turned to her, head tilting a bit more than necessary. Their hands moved at the chains in their hands.  
  
“Do you know, your magic is weak.” The person’s voice sounded so strange. It was like they were speaking just to calm her. There was something about that voice. Maybe it was her going crazy after all.  
  
“Excuse me?”  
  
“You possess magic circuits, but they are weak.” The being blinked, almost inhuman-like in how they did it. As though they did it to seem normal. “Yet something feels off. Like you’re asleep instead of awake. How curious.”  
  
What were they talking about asleep? She didn’t have any magic. Her mother needed to teach her.  
  
The chains around them clinked as the being shifted, drawing her attention back to the real issue. Whatever he said meant nothing if she wasn’t alive to question it. She had to call for help.  
  
No. She couldn’t.  
  
The nurses all believed her to be delusional. They had listened to the doctor when he had insisted only he could help her stay healthy and with memory intact. They had sedated her, almost let her be touched by the man time and time again.  
  
Even her family was starting to believe that she was out of her mind.  
  
Somehow… Someway… The being before her could easily get them to believe them. Even if they were stabbing the doctor again, they’d believe them over her without preamble.  
  
Even if she did manage to get someone to believe her, then what? More likely than not they wouldn’t believe a word she said. They’d apologize and help the being out of the place. Then, once that was done, she would be shut away and never allowed to practice magic.  
  
And, while her magic was weak, she was going to get better. She was going to prove herself as someone that could study magic. She would prove to her family that they could share the books and knowledge with her. She was capable.  
  
Probably.  
  
That left facing the being dead on.  
  
“My magic?” She puffed her chest out a little, brushing back her hair with a confidence that she didn’t really feel. Assertive people like her family managed to make lower mage families that were just starting think them strong. Despite being a no name family line of mixed blood, they managed to seem like they were more. Seem like they were important.  
  
Or that was what the nurses had whispered to one another and what she had felt from her mother. The woman was terrifyingly powerful.  
  
She could bluff too. She had never been able to really lie before. It was a good time to start now.  
  
She laughed a little, raising a brow at the being and putting her hands on her hips. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I have been practicing magic my entire life. In fact, I’ve done so much magic in my life, I can’t even remember it all. Too much work. As for the doctor, he was naturally someone who was bothersome. Yet, I didn’t take care of him myself. I’d get bored.”  
  
The being grinned, fangs showing in their face as they took a step forward. The step squelched as they stepped into a pool of blood and flesh.  
  
“You don’t say?” It cooed.  
  
“Y-Yes. I’m very good at magic.” She took a step back, hand wrapping around the handle of the door.  
  
She would escape, claim she saw nothing.  
  
No one would question her for not remembering anything if they came across her or the scene. They’d know she was an amnesiac, with memory worsening by the day. Others with her condition were suffering far worse after all, having no magic anything to retain even what little they could find important or traumatic.  
  
Yes, she’d survive-  
  
“You are scared of me.”  
  
The thing didn’t ask, simply stated the fact.  
  
Hakuno shook her head.  
  
“I’m not afraid of anything.”  
  
“You’re a terrible liar.” The being pointed out. “Terrible, but your arrogant words remind me of someone.”  
  
Was this a good someone? A bad someone?  
  
Did she want to know?  
  
“I-I see,” she replied weakly.  
  
Looking down at itself, the being shook their head. It’s movement towards her ended. They moved to a chair instead, motioning her to come in closer.  
  
She remained still.  
  
“Come now, little mage.” The being ran a hand through that long hair, their expression almost disappointed. “You just informed me that you are oh so powerful. Don’t let your lie remain a lie. If you must bluff, bluff with more confidence. Never say anything that you cannot back up. Never promise what you cannot give.” The being motioned for her to take a deep breath, grinning proudly. “I’ve seen better bluffs from children.”  
  
“I-I was not bluffing!”  
  
She was bluffing so hard.  
  
Those lifeless eyes closed, smile growing a little more at those words.  
  
“It’s fine, my little mage. I am dying as well, you know. I don’t have a long time, but I don’t want to go just yet. I have not even lived yet.”  
  
Neither had she.  
  
It was hard to not remember things anymore. It was hard to imagine being one moment closer each day to forgetting the world and everyone in it. Each day she woke up, it was closer to that one day she would awaken to nothing but strangers in a foreign land. She would die, unable to remember how to function.  
  
Perhaps she had lived at that point. More likely, she had spent life within sterile walls with nothing and no one.  
  
Her family had already turned away, distraught at a useless heir. Only coming back because a couple still had hope. How long that would last, she didn’t know.  
  
“What do you mean by dying?”  
  
“I am what is known as a servant of the holy grail,” the being told her. “If you look on the bad man’s hand, you’ll notice that they have strange red markings. Those are command spells. He was supposed to help me fight and win a holy grail. We would have been able to make a wish upon it for something that we want more than anything else in the world.” The being shook their head. “Instead, he told me that he wanted to use the grail to make more humans suffer so they would come to him. He wanted to wish for a disease only he could cure.”  
  
A wish?  
  
Hakuno moved forward, looking at the red marks on the other’s hand.  
  
She didn’t trust the being that was talking to her entirely, but…  
  
What would it be like to be able to dream, to have a wish of some sort? She could imagine the doctor having such dreams. He had been a horrible being. The other doctors were little better. She could imagine the nurses with wishes, mostly related to wealth or love. They were so greedy.  
  
Yet she had never thought about such things.  
  
It was painful, knowing a cure was close and death- closer. It didn’t allow the opportunity to even consider having some kind of wish.  
  
“Could I take the command spells?”  
  
The red marks were fading now, making her look back at the servant nearby.  
  
“Green Hair? Could I take them?”  
  
“I don’t know if you could handle them,” the servant told her. “I require mana, something you don’t have a great deal of to begin with.” They were playing with their hair a bit as they spoke, as though already bored with the situation.  
  
“I want to try. You don’t want to die, do you?”  
  
Once more, those lifeless eyes drifted over to hers, staring for a full minute before the being blinked that odd blink of theirs again. Slowly, mechanically, the being leaned forward, eyes narrowing.  
  
“What would you want with the grail, little mage?”  
  
Hakuno paused, thinking carefully.  
  
A wish for anything in the world.  
  
Her eyes drifted over to the being again, watching their legs beginning to fade. Their narrowed gaze was somewhat scary to look at right now.  
  
“I want to wish for you to live.”  
  
“Hmm?”  
  
“I want to wish for you to live.” Hakuno repeated, putting more conviction into the words.  
  
There was no point in wishing for herself. She wouldn’t know where to begin. A cure would be wonderful, but she wouldn’t be able to necessarily escape until the doctors decided she was cured. Wherever she went, she would most likely have to deal with her mother. The woman was scary. Magic was wonderful, but if this being was right, then maybe there were other ways to learn. Maybe she didn’t need to wish to learn magic.  
  
Maybe this being could teach her.  
  
In that case, it would mean her wish had already come true.  
  
“Little one,” Green Hair called softly. “Why would you want me to live?”  
  
“Isn’t that what everyone wants?” Hakuno shrugged. “I don’t want you to die.”  
  
“Why?”  
  
She looked over at them again, noting their face.  
  
They looked so sad. With their hair dangling forward and their eyebrows furrowed, they looked like they were taking the words in a way she hadn’t expected. She wasn’t sure why they didn’t enjoy the sound of that wish. Everyone here wanted a life. They all talked about having a life outside the halls and the rooms. They whispered about others and they hoarded one another from time to time to talk about items or something.  
  
Everyone she had met enjoyed life.  
  
“You are a patient of the doctor,” the being observed.  
  
“Yes. I am- or was…”  
  
“Do you not wish for a cure to your illness?”  
  
“I am an abomination.” She smiled softly at them, brushing back her hair a little. “I am a failure. If I get better, I could learn magic, but I don’t know if they will let me. My mother promised me, but she doesn’t believe me about the doctor. I don’t know if she would believe me about anything.”  
  
“Honesty. Interesting.” The being moved to be beside her, settling on their knees. “But you are no abomination.”  
  
“I am not human.”  
  
“You seem human to me.” The being moved closer, cupping her cheeks with their bloodied hands. They moved them slowly, as though testing the feeling of them beneath their fingertips. “Your face is human.” Their hands moved to her waist, making her suck in a breath before they simply poked at her stomach. “Belly is human too.”  
  
“I am an abomination.”  
  
“Do you even know what that word means, little one?” Those lifeless eyes looked up at her once again. “Truly, you have said that already and I don’t think it’s making any more sense than the first time you said it.”  
  
“My mother told me so.”  
  
The being froze up, staring at her a moment before the spat on the floor nearby.  
  
“Useless,” they stated.  
  
“I am.”  
  
Once again, those eyes fixated on her, narrowing as their mouth thinned to a small line. They grabbed her hand, moving it over the doctor’s.  
  
“You will find a new wish,” they told her. “I will help you. I will make you a wish that will bring you enough happiness that I never hear you call yourself such things ever again. If I hear them from your lips once more, I will not be responsible for what I do. Do you understand?”  
  
“You will kill me?”  
  
The being stared at her a moment before shaking their head. “You make my clay ache. Please, little one. Do not say things like that to me.”  
  
“I’m sorry.”  
  
“You are not. You lie so poorly.” Another sigh. “I will have much to teach you, but let us first see if I can have the chance.”  
  
“What do I do?”  
  
“I have some mana,” the being told her cryptically. “I will use it to enforce a contract between us, but I will become quite weak. You will need to be able to handle the mana I require.”  
  
“I can handle the mana.” Whatever mana was.  
  
“Repeat these words carefully.”  
  
She listened carefully to each word, repeating them softly as the being held her hand to the dead body’s. She could feel her heart pounding. Sweat was beginning to form as she tried her best to focus in on the task at hand.  
  
“I accept your contract… master.”  
  
Her body tensed.  
  
She wasn’t sure why. She wasn’t even sure how it came about, but she found herself pressed to the floor within seconds. Her chest felt heavy, the back of her neck burning a moment before the being moved towards her.  
  
“Come here, little one.”  
  
“I… I can’t… It hurts…”  
  
“There is something wrong,” the being told her. “Come here to me. I need to quickly see what is going on. It does not feel like I have contracted to you. Why is this so?”  
  
Her body pressed against the floor more. Her face was so close to the blood around the doctor. She could see those lifeless eyes that had looked at her so horribly before. They stared right back at her, reflecting her scared look.  
  
If only she could smooth that face over, be calm and composed.  
  
A pair of arms wrapped around her waist, lifting her up a moment before the being hugged her tightly to their chest. Their fingers moved slowly, eyes closed.  
  
“…Your mana summoned me.”  
  
Hakuno made a confused noise towards the being. She wasn’t sure what they meant.  
  
“I know this mana. It was used before to bring me here. I felt it… I felt you. How curious. To think, you were the master this whole time, forced to bring me about through another…” The being pulled back, leaning their forehead to hers. “Close your eyes.”  
  
“No.” She wasn’t going to feel pain again. She was going to just wait until this stopped. The nurses would come eventually and put her down. They would make it so she would wake up to the silence again.  
  
Her hands gripped the being tighter.  
  
She didn’t want to sleep.  
  
“Please?” Those pale eyes looked at her once again. “I want to help you breathe.”  
  
Her eyes drew to a close, her head leaning against theirs.  
  
“Oh, Ninsun,” the being breathed. “The great mother of my king and god. Please allow this little human to breathe. Awaken her to what was taken by this dead man.”  
  
The room was blurring. She couldn’t handle whatever this taking command spells was doing to her.  
  
“Please, Ninsun,” the being begged. “Do not let my first friend in a long while die…”  
  
Life.  
  
Hakuno paused as she felt it. Just like before with her own mother. The energy began to flood through her veins, filling her and lightening the burden of that heavy feeling. She gasped, taking in the air that came to her readily.  
  
Magic.  
  
Amazing, astounding magic.  
  
She needed to tell Megumi about this. She needed to tell all of her family.  
  
Her family!  
  
Hakuno stared at the being in front of her, watching them sigh in relief.  
  
“I was worried for a minute. Look at how mean you have been to me.”  
  
Her arms were around their shoulders in an instant. Despite the blood, she wrapped her arms around them and she held them as close as she could. Her vision swam. Her heart feeling so much lighter. The being’s arms wrapped around her, holding her close as well.  
  
They were doing a strange thing and she loved it.  
  
“You are so excited over a little thing like that,” the being murmured.  
  
“You are beautiful.”  
  
She had heard the nurses use the word before. Always when they were admiring something or someone. When they had admired her mother for her strength, they had called her beautiful. Somehow, the word didn’t feel powerful enough.  
  
They were beyond beautiful.  
  
Those eyes just stared at her bewildered at that though, head tilting.  
  
“Beautiful?”  
  
Hakuno nodded, feeling their hands wiping below her eyes. She held their hands and felt her cheeks lifting.  
  
“You are beautiful,” she told them again.  
  
“I don’t know if you are lying or not. I can’t tell if you became suddenly good at lying or are a complete fool. I am not beautiful. I am not even human.”  
  
“Neither am I.”  
  
The being pulled her close again, wrapping their arms around her and rocking her body.  
  
She couldn’t see anymore around the water. She couldn’t breathe as something got caught in her throat. Something was wrong with her. Why did this feel so wonderful? Why did she want to just remain here forever?  
  
“Little human,” the being murmured, wiping at her face again. “Do not cry, little human. I won’t let you cry.”  
  
“I’m sorry.”  
  
They cooed softly, stroking her hair with those strange hands of theirs. They felt so cool to the touch for some reason.  
  
They pressed their lips to her forehead and to the top of her head.  
  
They didn’t touch like the doctor had. Their touch didn’t make her want to scream or fight them. She didn’t feel like her body wasn’t hers anymore. Instead, all she got was a warm feeling bubbling into fruition. She could feel her heart beating and feel the comfort. This comfort was something else.  
  
Hakuno looked up at them, wiping at her eyes. “What… what was that?”  
  
“Hmm? What are you talking about, little one?”  
  
“What you did with your arms.”  
  
“A hug?” The being ran a hand through their hair, giving her another surprised look. “Have you never received a hug before?”  
  
“I would like another, please.”  
  
Those arms pulled her in again, holding her to their chest. She could feel herself getting tangled in the long green hair again. Their whole body felt strange. It was so different than her own. Then again, they were both not human. It made sense for them to feel different than humans like the nurses.  
  
“Your crying so hard,” the being murmured. “Do you truly love these hugs so much?”  
  
“You are beautiful,” she murmured to them.  
  
Silence set in.  
  
It enveloped the room as the slow sound of chains moving across the floor could be heard. She didn’t bother to look where they would go. She didn’t care.  
  
Hugs.  
  
“May I wish for you to live and for another hug?” Hakuno asked them.  
  
“You want hugs as your great wish, little one?” The being looked down at her again, laughing a little. “You think they’re that great?”  
  
“They’re wonderful,” Hakuno breathed.  
  
“I do not want you to wish for hugs on the grail,” the being told her. “My little friend, I will teach you what good wishes are like. If you would like to have hugs, then I will hold you close to me every day. From this day forward. I shall hug you every day and then I will wish for myself to be able to stay with you until the day in the far, far away future when you will die.”  
  
“Then I want to wish for your wish to come true.”  
  
The being made a strange sound, shaking their head. “The grail will grant any wish without fail. There’s no need to wish for a wish to work. You are so silly, little one.”  
  
“My name is Hakuno,” Hakuno told them.  
  
Those green eyes met hers, soft looking and lifeless yet so full of emotion. She leaned forward, pressing her forehead to theirs before she felt another kiss to her forehead.  
  
“Hello, my master Hakuno. You are such a small and arrogant human.”  
  
“What is your name?”  
  
“My name? It is Enkidu.” The being pulled away, standing up to their full height and holding onto their necklace as they looked down at her. “I am the being whom the gods created for a king. I am a beast in human form.”  
  
“Me too.” Hakuno smiled. “I’m an abomination.”  
  
“I told you to stop saying that.” The being knelt down again, holding her tight. “You are never to say that again. I want to give you hugs for good things about yourself. You should call yourself beautiful or wonderful or whatever other words you think of me.”  
  
“Enkidu?”  
  
The being paused. “Yes?”  
  
“I think you are a wonderful, beautiful human being.”  
  
They just stared at her, once more wrapping their arms around her after a minute.  
  
Their arms held her so tightly. She almost couldn’t breathe around the feeling of those arms. Still, she closed her eyes and simply held onto the being, taking in this strange feeling and this strange being. They made her feel so nice. They made her feel so important.  
  
“You are wonderful,” she told them again.  
  
“We should leave this room,” they murmured.  
  
She clung to them, finding herself carried slowly from the room. They closed the doors behind themselves, her arms around their shoulders again as they moved down the halls.  
  
Wonderful Enkidu.  
  
Beautiful Enkidu.  
  
Enkidu the magic person.  
  
“Why don’t you rest,” Enkidu offered. “I will-“  
  
“My room is just down the hall.”  
  
The being looked around, frowning. “…I cannot have us remain here. I will have us leave.”  
  
She shouldn’t let him. She should argue.  
  
“Rest, little Hakuno.” Her savior looked down at her, that smiling lighting up her world better than that rectangle ever could. “You are with the second greatest warrior from Uruk.”  
  
A bit of magic was whispering through her veins as they wandered the halls. She held onto them and fought to stay awake.  
  
“Enkidu,” she croaked through the fatigue. Her fingers gripped their robes tightly. “I don’t want to go to sleep again. I’m scared.”  
  
The being held her closer. “I vow to wake you when we arrive, but I do not want you to see what I must do to free us from this asylum. Rest, little Hakuno. Rest while knowing your servant will keep you safe.”  
  
She buried herself deeper into his robes as the sounds of screaming began, letting the fatigue set in.  
  
She would trust Enkidu the hugging magic person.


	3. Trees, Birds, and Beautiful Things

The world was awash in colors.  
  
Great colors, streaming in from everywhere. She could feel them on her body and on her face. She could see them blending on the ceiling above her in a collection of different hues and brightness. There were reds so deep that it made her heart race. There were blues so dark that they felt greater than even the rectangle from before’s hues. And then there were golds.  
  
Oh, but she like the gold colors. She loved them.  
  
Her eyes opened to this collection of colors and turned her head, gazing at everything.  
  
Great walls surrounded her, dark and cold. They were no longer in the pale blue room. There were no machines or tubes or steady beeps that told her that she was still indeed alive. Instead there were dark round objects that created the walls around her. A great table with its legs unable to be seen sat upon a higher floor in the room, with a great big colorful thing shining light down towards her.  
  
Hakuno sat up, looking around at the room.  
  
She was on a flat surface with lines like the machine on them. She almost wondered if they were the heartbeat lines of the material, but that seemed silly.  
  
Under her feet, she could see a dark red floor, furry for some reason. She ran her bare feet over it, taking in the texture. It felt oddly rough, like someone had ruffled it too much. Or like one of the itchier hospital blankets. Her mother usually brought those for a day before the hospital took them away, saying they were for more needy patients.  
  
Still, the strange floor and odd room weren’t in the hospital. At least, she’d never seen this room before. Had they just built it?  
  
Strange.  
  
Usually the nurses would come in if she was waking up. She was good at sleeping until the moment they were to come in.  
  
“Hakuno Kishinami,” that strange sounding voice called.  
  
Hakuno paused, her head immediately turning to see the being from before. Gone was the blood and the white robes from before. They had on a strangely short black shirt without sleeves and black gloves with gold on them. Their pants were cut down the sides too.  
  
“Did you get in a fight?”  
  
“Hmm?”  
  
“Your pants are ripped.”  
  
The being- Enkidu- looked down and grinned. “It does look like it, doesn’t it? How funny. I never noticed that. I just like not having my legs trapped.”  
  
She could understand that. Sometimes the doctor managed to stop her from attacking by tightening the blanket around her legs.  
  
Of course, she wouldn’t have to worry about the doctor now, would she?  
  
“I’m so glad that you are awake, my little friend.” Enkidu bounced over to her side, settling down at her side and smiling. “How are you feeling? I know that I didn’t get much time to talk to you before we had to leave that bad place and then I was so worried about finding a place where we would be safe that I didn’t have time to wake you and feed you.”  
  
“Where are we, Enkidu?”  
  
“Um… It’s somewhere called… Fuyuki? I had to travel away from the city where we had been. I found this place abandoned near an empty mansion and thought it might be best.”  
  
It was beautiful.  
  
Hakuno found the being wrapping their arms around her, leaning their head on hers as she took in more of the building.  
  
“It’s quiet here, isn’t it?”  
  
“It is,” Hakuno agreed. “What is that thing up there, Enkidu?”  
  
“Hmm?” They lifted their head a little as she snuggled against them. “That’s a stained glass window. I’m sure you may have seen windows before, but that one was made of colorful glass. They wanted to make it special.”  
  
“Who did?”  
  
“The people that were here before us.”  
  
Hakuno looked around worriedly. “Do you think they’ll come back?” She didn’t want to see Enkidu get hurt. The bad people at the hospital could come and take them away and hurt them. The bad people would be so mad if they found out about them killing the doctor.  
  
“Relax, Hakuno.” Enkidu pressed their lips to her head, holding onto her more. “You’re safe here with me. We’re going to be fine.”  
  
“What if they find us?”  
  
“I will stay with you, even if it means they eventually find us. I promise.”  
  
“I’m gonna make you keep that promise!” Hakuno looked up at them, watching their lips pull back into another one of those bright smiles of theirs.  
  
“That’s fine. Do you want to get dressed though? I went into the town and found some clothing that would suit you.”  
  
“I am dressed.” Hakuno looked down at the hospital gown. She always wore the gown.  
  
“Yes, but your butt shows in that. This would be something that covers you.”  
  
Something that covers her?  
  
Enkidu set her aside for a minute, grinning as they ran into the other room and returned with a pile of fabrics. They were neat fabrics. They looked like the colors of the stained glass.  
  
Hakuno stood up, her legs wobbling a little as she met the being halfway.  
  
“These are so soft!”  
  
“Aren’t they?” Enkidu beamed. “I tried to find things that would fit you, but I didn’t know for sure. If they don’t fit, I will go out again.”  
  
“How do I wear these? Are there ties like my gown?”  
  
Enkidu faltered a bit, smile lowering. “Um… No. They just go over the head or you pull them up your legs. You shouldn’t need any ties… I don’t believe…”  
  
“Can you help me?”  
  
“Sure. Please turn around.”  
  
She turned immediately, feeling their hands moving carefully to untie the gown.  
  
Already, her world was so exciting. She was in this dark, abandoned place with a pretty glass window. She had rough furry carpet beneath her feet and she was getting dressed. In something without ties. She was going to cover her butt.  
  
“Enkidu!”  
  
The being paused, holding onto one of the clothing pieces. “Yes?”  
  
“I’m really excited about this. Let’s do lots of things!”  
  
The being just grinned at her, nodding. “I agree, Master. Let’s have a lot of fun.”  
  
She found the fabric going over her head, blinding her a moment before she found it stopping just at her knees. The gown she had worn was cast aside now, leaving her to feel this new gown dancing around her waist as she twisted and turned.  
  
“Hold on, hold on.” Enkidu laughed a little. “I need to put on the tights. It’s too cold right now for you to be running around without something on your legs.”  
  
“Should I rip the sides of my pants too?”  
  
“No, you need to stay warm,” Enkidu told her, turning her around. “Put your hands on my shoulders and lift a leg.”  
  
She did as they asked, feeling the soft fabric moving up her leg. When she put her foot down, he asked for her other leg to be lifted. The pants fit into place, stopping just below her belly as she found the being pulling away.  
  
“I should probably brush your hair out too… I don’t think anyone has bothered to touch it in a long time.”  
  
“Brush my hair?”  
  
Did they mean the tangled mess behind her head?  
  
The being shook their head. “Come with me. I’m going to bring you back to a sink in the other room. I’m going to need to fix your hair before we get too far into doing anything.”  
  
She wrapped her hands around theirs, feeling the cool texture of their fingers. Their hands were so rough. It was like they had rubbed them on the carpet too long!  
  
“Enkidu, I think I want another hug soon.”  
  
The being looked down at her as they walked from the room, heading into a room that was lit up by a tiny light. This room had a strange sink. It was white and looked like it was made out of the hospital counters. The rest of the room had that strange material like what she had woken up on or what the walls of the other room were made of.  
  
Enkidu moved her to the sink, opening the fabrics behind it.  
  
Her eyes widened, hands pressing to the glass.  
  
Green.  
  
Endless greens and browns everywhere. They moved and stood in the area outside the room. She could see a vast amount of it and it was amazing.  
  
“Enkidu look!”  
  
“Hmm?”  
  
Hakuno looked back at them, motioning at the view outside the glass. “Look at those things!”  
  
“The trees?”  
  
“Can we go see them?!”  
  
“After I fix your hair, maybe. I have some shoes for your feet and then we can see the trees.” The being looked down at their hands a moment before turning away. “Please lean your head back into the sink. I need to get some soap and scissors.”  
  
“I will!”  
  
But the trees…  
  
She looked back at the trees, watching them sway just outside the window. How many trees were in this wonderous place, she wondered. Were they rough to the touch as well? Did they smell strange or have feelings? Did they talk or bite?  
  
“Hakuno… Master, you’re supposed to be leaning your head back for me.”  
  
“I’m sorry, Enkidu. I was watching the trees- OH! Enkidu! Something was falling!”  
  
“It was a bird, Hakuno.” Enkidu shook their head. “It’s a bird. They are flying outside. They catch worms to feed their babies and they teach their babies how to fly so they can continue to live and be happy.”  
  
Hakuno turned her head to look at the being. “Do you think I could learn to fly?”  
  
“What an odd question to ask.”  
  
Was it bad? She bit her lip, looking down before she felt those arms around her again.  
  
“When we finish with your hair, I will take you outside and we will look at all the trees and the birds. Maybe I will take you into town in a few days, so you can see what people do when they are not in hospitals. It doesn’t sound like anyone has taken you outside at all.”  
  
“I’ve only been in the hospital, Enkidu.”  
  
“Lean back please,” Enkidu bid her again, beginning to work water through her hair. She winced as they worked, finding him tugging at her scalp for a while. He left her once, returning with a strange toothed object that he began to work through her hair.  
  
The nurses had had something similar to it, but it had hurt and she had bit at them.  
  
They didn’t do that anymore.  
  
But Enkidu did something that made it not hurt. Their work was slow and then, she found them lifting her up and setting her on the table.  
  
“Just another minute, Hakuno. I’ll be done soon.”  
  
“Okay.”  
  
She swung her legs as they worked, listening to the sounds of the water dripping in the sink and the ‘snip snip snip’ happening behind her head. She stared at the world outside the window, her heart racing at the thought of touching the trees. Once they were done, she was going to be able to see all of that.  
  
The being brushed her hair in front of her face, the metal things- scissors- making that strange noise before the hair tumbled.  
  
She stared down at it, turning her gaze to Enkidu next.  
  
“You made my hair fall off!”  
  
“You needed it cut. It was too long and tangled. I had to cut mine a few times before.” But theirs was long and pretty. Her heart hurt at the thought of it being shorter.  
  
“Does it look bad now?”  
  
“It looks much better, Hakuno.” Enkidu picked her up, carrying her to a metal-like rectangle near the door. She saw a strange person in the rectangle, being held by- “Look at you now, Hakuno. I think you look a lot better.”  
  
“That’s me?”  
  
“That’s you.” Enkidu grinned at her.  
  
“My hair and eyes are the same color.”  
  
“They are.” Enkidu set her down, patting her head. “And now you look like a regular human being, Hakuno. Welcome to being human.”  
  
Human.  
  
She was actually human.  
  
There was just so much of this happiness in her. Too much energy! What was she going to do first? She had pretty hair and she was in clothes and out of the hospital. She had Enkidu with her and they could do anything! Anything at all!  
  
“Hakuno?”  
  
Her vision was getting watery for some reason. The being knelt down beside her, wiping at her eyes.  
  
“Master, what’s wrong?”  
  
“I’m just- Really, really happy.” Hakuno breathed. She looked over at them, smiling at them as they smiled back. “I don’t know what to do. I want to touch the trees and feel the stained glass and I want to go outside and-“  
  
“One step at a time, Hakuno. I understand. It was like that for me too when I became human.” Enkidu moved to stand up, heading over to the door and picking up a couple slippers. They weren’t like the hospital slippers she had to wear sometimes. They were strange looking. They clicked them onto her feet and held out their hand. “Let’s go outside first. We can feel those trees and I can have you see the sky. It’s a whole bunch of colors in the opposite side of the building.”  
  
Her hand was in theirs immediately.  
  
The being turned the knob of the door, pushing it open a moment before they pushed her through.  
  
The floor beneath her was soft, covered in strange green lines that seemed to dance. The trees in the distance… She looked back at Enkidu and reached for their hand again.  
  
“Do you need me-“  
  
“Yes, please.”  
  
Enkidu led the way, crossing the space between them and the trees. Her hand pressed against it for a second before she snatched it back, holding her hand to her chest. Her eyes drifted to Enkidu’s.  
  
“You are so excited about something so simple.”  
  
“Can it hurt me?”  
  
“If you climb and fall, yes.”  
  
“Climb? I can climb the tree?”  
  
Enkidu’s smile was bright and troublesome as they looked down at her. “Do you want to try climbing? I’ll hold you the whole time.”  
  
“I don’t know… I want to just touch it for right now.”  
  
“Alright.”  
  
She pressed her hand against the tree again for a moment. Then, she pressed her face to it. She could hear Enkidu chuckling behind her. The being settled into the strange green lines behind her, sitting and waiting.  
  
“Enkidu.” Hakuno looked over at them. “Do trees have homes?”  
  
“Trees make homes. They are what the tables and pews in the church behind us are made of. Trees make wood that make furniture.”  
  
She frowned. “People make trees into wood? Do they hurt the trees?”  
  
“Just a few. It’s so people can help their families stay safe from bad weather and raise their children.” Enkidu shook their head. “Come sit here in the grass with me. The ground is dry right now.”  
  
The ground.  
  
She moved to sit in the grass with them, feeling those arms around her waist again.  
  
“You don’t know much of anything about the world, do you?”  
  
“I don’t.”  
  
Enkidu nodded. “Then I will have to teach you. Do you know what a church is for?”  
  
“No. It’s that building behind us, isn’t it? You said that it was behind us.”  
  
“Yes. That building behind us is a church. People pray to gods in churches. They are made of wood, but ours is made of stone because it is older. In the old days, people made churches with stone.”  
  
“Oh. And then they leave them?”  
  
“Sometimes. Yes.” Enkidu turned them a bit, motioning towards the colors in the great ceiling behind them. “That is where the sun rises. Do you see? The sky is turning a bunch of different colors right now.”  
  
“I saw those colors sometimes from the rect- or um… The window in my room.”  
  
“Good. I hope you got to see at least one nice thing in your life.”  
  
“I did. I love colors.”  
  
She pressed her hands to the red dark blue gown she had on. “Why does the sky turn so many colors?”  
  
“Because the sun god likes to see beautiful things when he brings humanity the daylight.”  
  
“He’s really smart then.”  
  
“Gods are not very bright, but they sometimes get good ideas.” The being motioned again, bringing her eyes to another of the flying birds. “There’s your bird friend.”  
  
“OH! We need to catch it!”  
  
“Why?”  
  
“Why not?” Hakuno paused, looking at the being again.  
  
“Birds want to be free. You should never trap anything unless you want to hurt it. And even if you want to hurt it, you shouldn’t. Hurting things is wrong.”  
  
“You killed the doctor last night though.”  
  
Enkidu itched their hair. “Yes, but he was a bad man. If they are bad, then they do not deserve to have nice things, do they?”  
  
“No, they don’t.” Enkidu was right about that. If only more bad people would go away and be hurt like that.  
  
“Do you see where the bird is going?” Enkidu asked her, pointing to something in the tree. “The bird has a nest in one of the trees there. They probably have babies as well.”  
  
“Babies?”  
  
“A family. Do you have any family?”  
  
“My family hates me.”  
  
“They do?”  
  
Hakuno nodded. “My daddy wears a black suit and gets mad when I call him daddy. And then my mommy gets mad if I call her mommy. She makes me call her Megami.”  
  
“I see.”  
  
“I have other family, but I never see them. I hear that they make my mommy and daddy visit me though. But mommy told me the last time that she visited that I need to get better to learn magic and daddy told me that I need to die.”  
  
“Die?”  
  
“Mhmm.” Hakuno looked down at her arms. “I have something I shouldn’t. It makes them mad.”  
  
“I took the folder with your name on it. I wonder if whatever you took is written about in there.”  
  
“I don’t know how to read what the doctors write.”  
  
“I could teach you, I suppose. We have time.”  
  
“Really?”  
  
Enkidu nodded. “We will read this evening. I will teach you this language and the language that I grew up with. Maybe if you know my language, we can talk amongst other people without them knowing what we are saying.”  
  
She was going to learn to read.  
  
Birds and trees and learning what it was that she had that made her family hate her.  
  
She curled up against the being more, pulling their hair into her hands and combing her fingers through it. The being told her of more things.  
  
Now there was squirrels and rabbits. There were bushes and dirt. She listened to them talk about other animals. Deer with long legs and antlers. They formed antlers on their head, making her eyes widen.  
  
“Does that scare you?”  
  
“No. Do it again!”  
  
The being laughed before acquiescing. She felt the antlers, watching those eyes watching her.  
  
“They feel smooth.”  
  
“They do.”  
  
Her stomach growled after a while and they went back inside, grabbing something from the cold place- fridge- before moving to the main room in the church. They sat on the wood pews, with Enkidu talking about stones and people using the church to try to communicate with gods. She held the food in her hands, listening to them speak before they paused.  
  
“You need to eat your food, Hakuno.”  
  
“What is it?”  
  
“I am told they are rice treats. I bought them from a machine in town.”  
  
Rice treats? They felt cold in her hands. She sank her teeth into it, making a sound as she bounced next to the being.  
  
“Enkidu! Try this!”  
  
The being leaned in, opening their mouth as Hakuno held up the treat.  
  
“It tastes like strawberry.”  
  
“I like strawberry, Enkidu.”  
  
“I see that, Hakuno.”  
  
They ate through all the rice treats as Enkidu talked. She leaned against the being, hugging them tight and enjoying this. Everything was perfect. This was what she had always wanted. This was what life was supposed to feel like. Life was filled with joy and rice treats and trees and birds. Life was warm clothes and pretty hair and Enkidu.  
  
Life was Enkidu.  
  
“You should take a nap if you’re tired,” the being pointed out, probably noticing that her eyes were feeling heavy.  
  
“I don’t want to, Enkidu.” Hakuno held onto them tighter. “I don’t want to wake up in the hospital. Please don’t… Don’t make me go back.”  
  
She’d rather die.  
  
Enkidu wrapped their arms around her, pressing their lips to her forehead. “Did I not already tell you that I would not? You are my master and I will take care of you. That is what servants do for their masters. I am going to teach you to read Japanese and speak Sumerian. We’ll climb trees and pet animals and live in nature until you grow up and then we will do what I need us to do.”  
  
“That sounds nice,” she murmured, pressing her face to their clothes. “Enkidu?”  
  
“Yes, Hakuno?”  
  
“Is there a word for when you like something so much that your heart is racing and you can’t imagine being any happier than you are at that moment?”  
  
“That’s called love, Hakuno.”  
  
“Enkidu?”  
  
The being paused a moment, running a hand through her hair. They were so gentle. “What is it, Hakuno?”  
  
“You’ll be here when I wake up, right?”  
  
“Yes. I will.”  
  
“Good. I love you, Enkidu.”  
  
The being pulled her closer, arms and legs wrapping around her tightly as she felt their lips press to her forehead again. “My little human, I think I love you too.”


	4. Golden Hair and the Smoking Man

“Hakuno?”  
  
Hakuno brushed back the hair on her forehead, looking up at the being in front of her. Her eyes glanced around at the tall structures in the distance. They glistened and made noises as all kinds of little objects and things moved around them. Thousands it must have been, like strange pieces of some kind of picture. They didn’t look like they belonged in the same way that the trees did. They felt all wrong for this area.  
  
Enkidu glanced between her and the scene, chuckling a little before they came back to her side and lifted her into their arms. She had helped the being tie their hair back and they had helped her do the same with her own. They matched now.  
  
“Enkidu- I-I can walk on my own!”  
  
“I know, but you’re going so slow. At this rate, we’ll never make it into town.”  
  
“W-what if someone sees us?”  
  
Enkidu shook their head. “Then they’ll see a couple of pretty women walking around together first thing in the morning. I got you the school uniform so that they’d think nothing of it. You’ll be fine.”  
  
She wasn’t sure about this.  
  
They didn’t let her go though, carrying her instead down the hillside and into the strange land that looked more closely like the hospital floors. Cement and pavement, Enkidu had told her. The things around them were more buildings.  
  
They were ugly buildings though, nothing like the church and its surrounding area. They didn’t have pretty windows or cool stone walls. All of the buildings here were more like that of the hospital. They had sleek, flat walls with nothing remotely interesting about them.  
  
Her grip on Enkidu’s hand was firm as they walked together.  
  
The sunrise was drifting over the buildings as humans opened the doors to different buildings or set out wares. She looked back, staring between the tubes connecting poles together and the steel walls that made up all the buildings.  
  
“It feels inhuman,” Hakuno murmured.  
  
“I know how you feel,” Enkidu replied softly. “Don’t say such things too loudly though, my friend. People will be worried if you don’t sound like you fit in.”  
  
A group of giggling kids hurried by, making her jump. Her arms wrapped around Enkidu tightly, staring at the lot of them as they chattered on.  
  
“It’s fine, Hakuno.” Enkidu rubbed her back softly. “We’re just here to get supplies and find some things that you would like. I have some money with me and it will be nice for you to see some people that aren’t cruel.”  
  
“I don’t trust them.”  
  
The being simply shrugged, pulling her along towards another outdoors hallway.  
  
Strange tables were set up along this one, hidden away slightly from the skies with the help of colorful fabrics. The strange writing she had seen the doctor and nurses using was everywhere. As they entered the area, people mingled and migrated from one place to another, like the birds had wandered from tree to tree yesterday.  
  
Hakuno looked them over, watching them fix their hair or fiddle with their bags and clothes. It was like all of them were uncomfortable with something around them. Perhaps they too sensed the unnatural state of this place. Maybe they needed to escape to the trees as well.  
  
“We’ll need blankets, food, some of those odd sponges that Siduri used… although they might have improved that aspect of life for women…” Enkidu hummed softly. “Water can be received from the well, but maybe some books would be wise.”  
  
“Enkidu…”  
  
Hakuno eyed the table nearby, seeing strange objects strewn about it.  
  
The being simply ignored her, thinking aloud. “Perhaps I should get you some different clothes… People might find it odd if we get too much in one go though.”  
  
“Enki,” Hakuno tried again, tugging at the other’s dress.  
  
“Hmm? What is it, Haku?”  
  
“What are those over there?” She whispered the question, motioning towards the colorful things. Their gaze followed her pointing, seeing the colorful objects before they grinned a little more.  
  
“I’m not sure,” they confessed. “We should ask.”  
  
“Wha- No! Enki!”  
  
Enkidu was already directing them towards the stand, smiling brightly at the man setting up the place. “What do you have here?”  
  
“Sweets. You both should be heading to school though.”  
  
Enkidu nodded, pulling out a pouch from their pocket. “Can we please get a few of these red treats here?”  
  
The person looked at her for a moment, almost like they were trying to understand her for some reason, but they gathered some of the sweets and put them in a clear bag. They smiled and exchanged their items to one another, the man smiling.  
  
“Be sure not to be late for school. Your little sister should be able to start her day off right!”  
  
“Thank you,” Enkidu replied easily.  
  
“He just gave them to you,” Hakuno murmured as they walked on, the sweets’ bag being set in her hands.  
  
“If you have money, people will trade it for goods. It is always a good idea to save some of your money though. You shouldn’t spend it all in one place.”  
  
She nodded, remaining close as she looked around at more of the people in the area.  
  
None of them cared.  
  
Not a single soul in this place seemed to care at all who they were or what they were doing here. All of them were simply wandering through the area, looking at strange monitors in the windows or talking to one another or trading their own money for goods. A few were laughing or arguing with one another. A strange beast was lying in the window of one of the buildings, stretching slightly as they walked through the outside hallway.  
  
Enkidu didn’t pay anything any mind, going to different people and pointing out what they wanted. She found herself holding more bags as they walked, Enkidu holding the bigger, heavier ones. By the time they reached the other side of the hall, their hands were almost entirely loaded.  
  
“Do you want to try going into one of the buildings here?”  
  
“One of the buildings?”  
  
Enkidu nodded. “I want to find you some books and this place looks to sell books.”  
  
Her gaze flickered to the building, its walls and colors looking more faded and crumbly than the other buildings around. The lights were dimmer in there.  
  
“It looks strange.”  
  
“Some of the best things in life are strange, but you love me just the same,” Enkidu replied. “If you do not want to, I won’t make you. I didn’t want to leave you behind to worry about me so I thought this might be fun. You’ve handled this little trip so well.”  
  
She wasn’t sure how to feel about this trip. Everything seemed okay, but…  
  
What if someone was lurking in the shadows? What if someone was coming for them?  
  
She couldn’t shake the feeling.  
  
“…I don’t know.”  
  
“Bravery, Haku.” Enkidu leaned forward, pressing their lips to her forehead. “We’ll step inside for just a moment, then go straight home.”  
  
“…okay.”  
  
They moved to the doorway, passing into the building.  
  
Thousands and thousands of thick folders lined the walls. Some of them were shorter, some of them were longer. She could see them lining all the shelves and standing in piles on the floor. A few people were in the place, their faces buried within the files or one gentleman was standing by a counter, smoking a little as they waited.  
  
Their eyes drifted over to her and she moved behind Enkidu.  
  
“Lord Melloi,” one of the people greeted, moving behind the counter from a back doorway area. “I found the text you’re looking for.”  
  
“Finally,” Smoking Man murmured, turning away.  
  
Enkidu paid them no heed, moving passed and deeper into the place. Their eyes roamed over the different scribbles, fingers pausing as they reached some. The books were set nearby as they pulled a few down.  
  
“You’ll like this one,” they promised her, waving it. “The greatest king in the world is written about here. I appreciate that people around here understand a good king when they meet one. He’s also the greatest conqueror in the world. You’ll see what I mean.”  
  
“Let’s hurry please.”  
  
Hakuno glanced back, noting Smoking Man’s eyes on them again. She moved closer to Enkidu.  
  
“One more… I saw the word in your file and I want to know what it means.” Enkidu looked around again before shaking their head. “Hold on, I will ask the vendor.”  
  
She held onto Enkidu’s dress as they went to the counter. The Smoking Man watched them as Enkidu grinned that smile towards the vendor now.  
  
“Excuse me, do you have any books on Merlin?”  
  
“Merlin?”  
  
“Yes, please.”  
  
The man nodded, “stories or just research?”  
  
“Ah, both, I suppose.”  
  
The vendor turned, heading into the back place again.  
  
“I sense mana from you.”  
  
Hakuno tensed, moving around Enkidu. She needed to be away from Smoking Man.  
  
“That would be a wise assessment,” Enkidu replied, looking over at them. Their eyes narrowed. “How interesting that a mage would choose to shorten their life with the choice of smoking.”  
  
“Habit I picked up.” The man replied. “You mentioned a great conqueror. Are you studying from a mage family in this area?”  
  
“I am a traveler. We are passing through,” they replied to Smoking Man.  
  
“You practice outside the Mages Association?”  
  
“What use would I have for beings that hide away rather than go straight into the battle? Mages are full of themselves,” Enkidu replied. “They overly complicate tasks that could be accomplished with simple methods.”  
  
The man frowned more, making Hakuno tug at Enkidu’s dress again.  
  
“I want to leave…”  
  
“Alright, alright.” Enkidu smiled her way. “I’ll purchase what we gathered and we’ll leave.”  
  
Enkidu pat her head a moment before they moved away, leaving her to stand next to the Smoking Man again.  
  
“They are not a mage at all…”  
  
She paused, glancing at the man. Those angry looking eyes were glancing at her now. She could feel her heart beating so fast.  
  
“Young lady,” he murmured. They went to say something else, but stopped, shaking their head. “…No. It is not time for a war again. It would be impossible to complete a summoning.”  
  
“A war again?”  
  
“Pay me no mind,” the man replied. “Allow me to pay for your books. Your friend has reminded me of someone close to me.”  
  
She frowned at them, but Enkidu was back, setting the books down.  
  
“I thought you said you had a book of conquerors.”  
  
“I do,” Enkidu told the man, holding up one in particular. “Gilgamesh. The greatest conqueror of them all. A king of all heroes.”  
  
“A useless man. Arrogant as they come.”  
  
“He’s arrogant alright, but he’s as brilliant. He could take over this land in no time at all. He has his own standards and you are either of the same mind or you are meant to be beneath the ground he walks upon. I would help him put you there too.”  
  
The man stared at him, remaining frozen as the vendor returned and Enkidu welcomed the last couple books to the collection and paid. Her hand was safely returned to Enkidu’s. They turned towards the door.  
  
“You speak as if you know the asshole,” Smoking Man murmured.  
  
“He is the greatest friend someone like me could ever ask for. I have a feeling he’ll come around soon,” Enkidu replied. “I hope I never see you again, Lord Melloi.”  
  
The strange thing the man was smoking fell to the floor as they turned away and headed for the door. Hakuno could see something in the man’s eyes. It reminded her of the doctor’s face when they had lay dead on the floor in the hospital.  
  
What was so scary about Gilgamesh?  
  
What a strange man.  
  
If Enkidu liked them, then the man was being a fool. That was something she knew for sure. Enkidu was the best judge of a person. They knew a good person from a bad person, without fail.  
  
They took strange paths through the strange building filled forest of a city. Her feet were starting to hurt, but she ignored the pain, keeping her grip on Enkidu’s. They paused a moment as they reached the outskirts, Enkidu taking the bags off her hands to carry.  
  
“I could hurry these to home and come back to grab you and carry you back,” Enkidu offered.  
  
“I can walk.”  
  
Enkidu looked around a moment before shaking their head. “It’s too far. I made us take a lot of strange turns to make sure that our friend from the bookstore couldn’t follow. Why don’t you sit on that bench over there a moment and I will come right back in a minute?”  
  
“I don’t know…”  
  
“Just a minute. There’s too much to carry you and the purchases up to the church.”  
  
She nodded, moving to the bench.  
  
“If you need me,” Enkidu told her. “Command me to come. The spells you carry will make me come to you immediately, okay?”  
  
She nodded, a part of her relieved as the being told her that.  
  
And with that, they disappeared, vanishing into thin air as Hakuno felt a trickle of energy ripple through her person. Probably from them using her magic to hurry. They had mentioned something about that when they had gotten ready to head into the city this morning. Their power came from her so when they used it, she would know.  
  
It made the back of her neck itch a bit though.  
  
Her gaze flickered up to the skies, legs waving back and forth as she waited.  
  
The man from earlier had possibly followed them. That was something that Enkidu had mentioned. It had been a bad idea to go into that bookstore. She should have known that right from the start.  
  
It had been nice to see Enkidu smile at the books though. Even if they were just fatter files. She would have to learn how to read so she could read them to Enkidu. It was the least she could do in return for all that the being was doing. Maybe they liked other things as well. She could be a good friend right back to Enkidu and maybe Enkidu would talk about her the same way that they talked about Gilgamesh.  
  
What a neat idea that would be.  
  
Friendship was truly a strange and wonderful thing.  
  
“You should be in school.”  
  
Hakuno jumped, realizing belatedly that she still had the sweets in her pocket. Somehow she must have tossed them in the pocket of her dress and forgotten about them. She looked back, staring up at the golden haired man.  
  
“…Who are you?”  
  
“A rude question to ask, considering you were ignoring me.”  
  
“What?”  
  
Golden Hair motioned at something nearby. The object seemed to be smoking for some reason. “My bike has a flat tire and you, mongrel, stared right at me without even taking note.”  
  
“Oh.”  
  
The man raised a brow at her.  
  
“You should get a new bike.”  
  
“I should- Child, do you have any concept of money?”  
  
“No, but my friend said that you should be sure to save some even if you spend a lot. You should be more careful in the future.” She moved to the other side of the bench and settled back into place.  
  
The man sat next to her, crossing his arms as his shoe moved in a quick rhythm. “You have a lot of nerve insulting someone like that.”  
  
“I didn’t insult you. I told you to be more careful with your money. You take things too personally.”  
  
“What if your favorite toy was broken? Would you want someone telling you to be more careful, kid?”  
  
“I don’t have toys.”  
  
The man leaned closer, staring at her a moment before their brows furrowed even more. “…All children have toys.”  
  
“I don’t have toys.”  
  
"You must play games then."  
  
"What are games?"  
  
He huffed. “You have candy though.” The blond glanced down at the bag in her hands. “Clearly someone cares for you.”  
  
“They do. They are the only friend I have,” she told the man.  
  
Golden Hair went quiet again. Looking her over a moment before they leaned back against the bench. “…Interesting.”  
  
“Do you want one?” Hakuno held up the bag to the man. “My friend got three and I don’t know what we would do with the extra.”  
  
“…Your friend intended for you to have two, probably.”  
  
“I don’t want more than them. It wouldn’t be right.”  
  
The man glanced down at the bag. “…It’s meager treats. You could probably get those in the city.”  
  
“Then don’t take them if you don’t want them. You’re being annoying.”  
  
A moment before she could rescind her grasp, the man was latching onto her hand, reaching in to pull out one of the treats. He eyed it a moment, looking at her next before he stuck it in his mouth. Those eyes of his closed, a nod coming from the man.  
  
“…Suitable, I suppose. Do not assume what I think, little one. I make my own decisions and your assumptions piss me off.”  
  
Hakuno looked over at their bike again, shaking her head. “Do you really need that thing? It looks kinda useless.”  
  
“It’s a way to travel,” Golden Hair replied. “Otherwise, I would have to walk.”  
  
“I walk.”  
  
“Not to Fuyuki, you don’t.”  
  
“I just walked there and back.”  
  
The man stared at her, eyes widening a bit as they scowled. “…You must not get to enjoy much. No toys and no way of getting anywhere unless you walk. Tell me, do you have any kind of concept of pleasure?”  
  
“I have my friend around to see the world with. What else would I want?”  
  
The blond sat back again, releasing her hand and crossing his arms. The strange long sleeved shirt they had on parted, showing another shirt.  
  
“…You take that much pride in your so called friendship to some mongrel…” They looked around before yawning. “Perhaps I should take pity on you...”  
  
Enkidu was taking a while. She looked back and frowned, seeing nothing yet. Maybe they were having some kind of trouble…  
  
“Expecting someone?”  
  
“My friend said they were be a minute.”  
  
“There is nothing that way,” Golden Hair told her. “They may be lost.”  
  
“No, they’re fine. I think they’re just tired.”  
  
She continued to watch though, seeing nothing. The trees were blocking her view of anything. Maybe she should have argued with Enkidu about being able to walk back to the church. Her feet were hurting badly though. She didn’t want to have to start walking now.  
  
“Here.”  
  
Hakuno looked over at the man, seeing the object they were holding out.  
  
“What’s that?”  
  
“What is this?” The man laughed a little. “You are a deprived thing, aren’t you? It is a bracelet obviously.”  
  
“What do I do with it?”  
  
The man rolled his eyes, holding out his hand.  
  
She stared at him.  
  
“Your hand, little mongrel.”  
  
“I’m a human, not a mongrel.”  
  
“Your hand, little human child.”  
  
She held her hand towards the man, feeling the man put the object around her wrist. It glinted in the sunlight, the blue circles gleaming even as the gold color reflected the sunlight that was still rising over the horizon. She pulled her hand closer, looking at the thing more closely.  
  
“Consider it payment for your candy. It was adequate.”  
  
“Thank you.”  
  
The man brushed a hand through his hair, laughing a bit. “Don’t ask me what brought about my good humors. I simply find your words amusing, child. You remind me of someone with your chastising and your honesty.”  
  
“I hope my friend comes back soon,” Hakuno told him.  
  
“Do you have plans?”  
  
“They’re helping me learn to read. I’m going to read about King Gilgamesh.”  
  
“Oh?”  
  
Something made her pause, seeing the look on the man’s face. Those eyes were glinting for some reason, like he found this funny for some reason. Their body was leaning back against the bench again, relaxed.  
  
“Yeah,” Hakuno replied easily. “King Gilgamesh is the best conqueror and king in the world and is the greatest friend a person could have. He has his own standards and you are either of the same mind or you are meant to be beneath the ground he walks upon. I would help him put you there too.” She used Enkidu’s words, since that had been a good way to explain Gilgamesh.  
  
Golden Hair roared in amusement, wiping at his eyes. He nodded, the smile coming to his features brighter than anything she had ever seen on him.  
  
“You are an entertaining human, aren’t you? I was correct in gifting you favor.” The man stood up, moving back towards their bike.  
  
“Are you leaving?”  
  
“I am late, but they will accept it or they will not. I don’t particularly care.” Something happened with the bike, the front of it moving suddenly higher as a strange golden thing appeared near the front of the thing. Golden Hair smirked over at her. “Perhaps, in the future, you could become useful to your noble King Gilgamesh, child. I’ll drive by this bench again. Show up and I’ll stop to entertain myself.”  
  
“Goodbye, Golden Hair.”  
  
“I will see you again, Follower of Gilgamesh.”  
  
The bike roared beneath him, carrying him away. She watched their outer shirt flap in the wind behind them, disappearing around some trees. Her eyes drifted back to the trees, her hand playing with the bracelet now. She would have to ask Enkidu what the bracelet was used for. They seemed kind of useless, even if the man had been nice enough.  
  
A head of green hair appeared soon enough, the being sighing in relief at the sight of her.  
  
“Hakuno. I’m sorry for taking so long. We had some trouble with animals in the kitchen. We left food out and they decided to go in and have themselves something to eat. I couldn’t necessarily leave them to make matters worse.”  
  
“That’s okay.”  
  
The being moved in front of her, frowning as they caught sight of the bracelet. “What’s this?”  
  
“There was a man that stopped here. He had gold hair and gave me this.” Hakuno held it up for the being to inspect. “They said it was a bracelet.”  
  
“It is.”  
  
“I don’t know what it’s for, but it’s pretty. I thought it was nice of them to give me.”  
  
“I don’t sense anything wrong with it… Actually, I know these markings from my homeland.” Enkidu pulled her hand a little closer, smiling a little. Their eyes drifted up to meet hers. “You must have been very good if someone decided to give you a bracelet like this for no reason at all.”  
  
“I did give him one of the sweets from this morning.”  
  
Enkidu nodded. “Alright. Well, I need to get you away from civilization again. Just to be safe. We can start working on your reading when we return.”  
  
“Alright. Do you think we need to worry about the Melloi person from earlier?”  
  
“No…” Enkidu looked towards the city again. “But I will move us again just to be safe.”


	5. Ripples and Fire

“Enkidu?”  
  
Enkidu looked over at her as they ate in the alter area of the church.  
  
“You read the file about me, didn’t you? Can you tell me about myself?”  
  
The being shrugged, yawning a little. “I suppose I could. There’s not much that I can tell you, but you have good health according to the file. They can’t tell what makes you sick or anything from what I’ve read.”  
  
“They can’t tell?”  
  
Enkidu shook their head. “We will win the grail and fix the problem ourselves. Don’t worry about that too much.”  
  
Hakuno nodded, looking down at her food. The greens and fruits on her plate didn’t look as exciting as they had when Enkidu had first set them down. “I don’t want to start forgetting things here.”  
  
“No thinking like that,” Enkidu told her, smirking a little. “Besides, I found something else interesting in that file of yours.”  
  
“What was it?”  
  
“You were born with mana circuits that were damaged.”  
  
“Damaged? They feel okay though.”  
  
The being stood up, moving back to where they had stacked the books before. They moved around, shuffling things for a moment while Hakuno continued to eat. She could see them looking through the texts before grabbing one of the books and coming back to settle at her side.  
  
“Right here,” they pointed at some of the scribbles on the folder. “It says your family had something from a magician from old days called Merlin. It had mana and they experimented with you since your mother couldn’t have kids.”  
  
“So my magic is from a Merlin?”  
  
“It sounds like they think most of it comes from whatever work they did with you and this mana from the magician. We can read about Merlin if you’d like.” They held up the book they had brought over as well. “I want to know what kind of person helped you become strong enough to summon me.”  
  
“Does it count as my mana if it comes originally from this Merlin person?”  
  
“It feels like it.” Enkidu grinned. “It’s yours now. If anything, I think I would consider this Merlin like a parent. They gave you what you needed to be a strong person and then disappeared.”  
  
Her parents weren’t giving her anything though.  
  
Enkidu was flipping through the book as she ate, setting the plate aside after she was done and climbing into the being’s lap afterwards. Her arms wrapped around their waist, her eyes going to the bracelet she had gotten from the blond man earlier.  
  
Maybe she wasn’t that bad in the end.  
  
Merlin had given her mana.  
  
Enkidu had given her humanity.  
  
Golden Hair had given her something for being honest and nice.  
  
“Enkidu?”  
  
“Hmm?”  
  
“Can we consider yesterday the first day of my life?”  
  
The being paused. Those eyes looked her over before they shook their head. “Don’t think about that kind of thing. Those bad memories will fade away. Let me read to you for a while and then we will go to bed, okay?”  
  
“Okay.”  
  
“According to think,” Enkidu began, setting the pages in front of her. “Merlin was a magician for a king named Arthur. The magician was also known for being told bad things when they were young. They were considered a demon in their time because they were so powerful.”  
  
“Is that like being a patient?”  
  
Enkidu looked down at her a moment before hauling her up into their arms. “Let’s lay down on the pillows we bought. You need to sleep somewhere comfortable. Besides, that big rectangle mattress will be more comfortable than these floors.”  
  
Hakuno just held onto the being, nodding and wrapping herself around them.  
  
They moved through the building more, climbing the stairs in the back and entering the small room that Enkidu and her had found when they had returned from shopping. Now that they had done that shopping, the pillows and blankets that they had found and bought were collected on a mattress in the corner near some more of that stained glass.  
  
Enkidu settled her into the blankets before leaving for a few minutes. They lit some candles, pulling her into their arms before she felt their lips against her temple.  
  
“You’re wonderful, Enkidu,” she murmured.  
  
“You say that so often,” Enkidu told her. “Let me tell you of Merlin. Then tomorrow we will read about a better man.”  
  
“You mean we’ll read about Gilgamesh?”  
  
“You’re already so excited.” The being grinned widely at her, pulling her a little closer and squeezing her a little. “I am glad that you are as excited to hear about him as I am to talk about him. You’ll enjoy the stories. He was a great king.”  
  
Hakuno glanced down at the book in Enkidu’s hands and shook her head. “Maybe we learn about Gilgamesh today and Merlin tomorrow?”  
  
Enkidu laughed, letting her go a moment as they rolled onto their back.  
  
“I’m not going to have you learn about him tonight! There’s not nearly enough time. I need to tell you about meeting him as a child and then there were all the temple maidens!”  
  
“Temple maidens?”  
  
“They are women who are devoted to gods. They forgive anything that you do wrong and they give lots of attention and love to you.”  
  
“Ah, so I’m like a temple maiden!”  
  
Enkidu laughed again. “No, no. They do grown up love. You have child love, which is better in my opinion. Don’t worry about maidens. You’re an innocent and I like that.”  
  
She could try to be a temple maiden at some point. She would have to grow up fast so she could become one of them. In the meantime, she moved closer, wrapping her arms around the being.  
  
“What’s this?”  
  
“Temple maidens aren’t around so I forgive anything you do wrong and you’re gonna get all of my attention and love. No one else is allowed to have any.”  
  
“Not a single person?”  
  
“Nope.”  
  
“Not even when you grow older and fall in love with someone?”  
  
“I will never fall in love with someone,” Hakuno promised, pressing her face deeper into the other’s chest. “You’re my only friend.”  
  
Another laugh from the being. The being’s hands ran through her hair again. “You’re so wonderful, Hakuno. You remind me of Gilgamesh a great deal. He said the same things to me.”  
  
She wanted to ask about Gilgamesh more. What were they like? Had he been as close to Enkidu as she was? Had they been able to be a temple maiden as well as a king?  
  
But Enkidu was already settling her in their arms once again. Her finger was set at the start of the writing of the page. They moved her finger along, speaking as though they were simply lifting the words right from the pages. And they probably were, since some of the formation of lines seemed to repeat.  
  
“Enkidu?”  
  
“Hmm?”  
  
“How do you read this?”  
  
The being shook their head, starting her finger at the beginning again. Slowly, they showed her how the different symbols were sounds. Each sound created words. The words created imagery. The candles had to be switched after a while, several yawns escaping her as they moved along.  
  
The next morning, Hakuno woke the being up early, starting them over again.  
  
Rather than going out into the world, they curled up and worked together.  
  
The symbols were kanji. The sentences were the gateway to an entirely different world.  
  
No longer was she a mere slip of a girl who had escaped a bad place and was hidden away in a church. She was now in the position of the great magician, trying to build a future for an entire world by helping its king. She could see Enkidu in that role themselves. Like Merlin, Enkidu seemed like they loved their king. Every time the pages went on to talk about how great their king was, Enkidu would scoff, mentioning how Gilgamesh did this or Gilgamesh had done that and it was so much better.  
  
She settled in after a while, holding the book closer and beginning to read aloud herself.  
  
At times, Enkidu would open their eyes, reading a word that didn’t make sense to her. Sometimes they would take time to read, talking to her about this or that as they ate just to have a change of pace.  
  
Merlin the great magician.  
  
She must have been at least somewhat great herself.  
  
Looking down at her arms, Hakuno thought about it a little more now. Enkidu had said that the folder downstairs had said her magic was directly from Merlin. If that was the case, then anything this magician had done, she could do as well.  
  
She was going to do something.  
  
Her eyes ran over the pages in front of her as Enkidu slept behind her. Their arms were holding her enough that, should she try to leave them, they would most likely wake up and follow after her. However, if she tried to just do magic right here, maybe she could do something.  
  
What to do though…  
  
Her eyes drifted to the window nearby.  
  
The shape of the flower was easy enough. Maybe she could create a flower. The magician Merlin had been able to make flowers.  
  
Lots of flowers.  
  
Her eyes drifted back to Enkidu again before she shut her eyes.  
  
Flowers.  
  
How to create flowers.  
  
The first thing she’d need was her mana.  
  
Hakuno squeezed her eyes as she tried to imagine something. She’d bluff the power into happening. Yes, of course. There was lots of power in her person. She simply needed to wake it up. She could imagine it being strong like it had been for Merlin.  
  
Unparalleled power, such that she could create a field of flowers for the being behind her.  
  
She could smell them like the outdoors the other day. Fresh smelling and drifting in the wind. Her mana would create the green lines that looked so much like the grass outside. From the tips of the grass like part of the flowers, petals would bloom forth. They would be like sweeping fabrics, reaching out to cover up as much of their bases as possible, showing off little antenna like the machines at the hospital had held.  
  
But she wanted some of the petals to drift in the wind. She had seen a few fall like leaves in the wind, landing on her as she had walked with Enkidu through the woods.  
  
She wanted them to be like that.  
  
So she looked deeper. She needed more mana. More power.  
  
She would create so many flowers for Enkidu to see and touch. She would show that she could be as great a magician as Merlin. She would show that she could be a good vassal for Gilgamesh like Merlin had been for King Arthur.  
  
Golden Hair had called her a follower of Gilgamesh after all. She needed to act the part.  
  
More power yet.  
  
She could imagine the other window in the attic open now, the wind drifting in. The flowers would sway in its might, strong enough to hold their ground but not enough to not be affected by the wind.  
  
“How pretty.”  
  
Hakuno opened her eyes, blinking at the sight before her.  
  
There were blooms all over the room, white flowers everywhere. They gleamed different colors in the morning light. Behind her, she could feel Enkidu shifting. Their arms wrapped around her a little more, holding her closer.  
  
“Did you want to do this, Hakuno?”  
  
“Sorry.” Hakuno smiled over her shoulder at them. “I made flowers.”  
  
“I see that.”  
  
“I did magic just like Merlin.”  
  
Enkidu picked up a handful of the blooms that had landed on the bed, feeling them between their fingers before nodding. “You did. They look wonderful, Hakuno.”  
  
“I didn’t want to leave you though. I think I might have made the room a mess.”  
  
“I don’t mind. The flowers are pretty, Hakuno. You did an excellent job.”  
  
“Should I learn more magic in case we get attacked like Arthur and Merlin did in our story?” They were to battle scenes now, Arthur protecting his people with the help of his magician. Enkidu shook their head.  
  
“I don’t want you learning offensive magic, not right now. Your flowers are better. I hope you never have to fight.”  
  
“Why’s that?”  
  
Enkidu shrugged, “Fighting is all well and good. You can get a lot done, but when you finish fighting, that’s it. You find yourself thinking about all the fighting you did and all the pain you put others through. You find that there were maybe other ways that you could have handled problems. Rather than that, you decided to ruin any chances you had for being friends with them.”  
  
“But you can protect yourself from bad people.”  
  
Enkidu nodded. “That’s true. I want to be selfish and be your sword though, Hakuno. I don’t want to make you create something ugly instead of your flowers. Please let me be selfish just this much.”  
  
“You can be as selfish as you want.” Hakuno grinned at them. She picked up some of the flowers and set them atop the being’s head. “You are the most beautiful person in this entire world. If you want to do something or have something, please just let me know. I will do whatever I can to make sure you have as much happiness as you give me.”  
  
Another smile. Hakuno felt her own mirror it.  
  
“I mean it, Enkidu.”  
  
“I know you do, Hakuno.” Enkidu set the books about Merlin aside and moved to stand up. “Let me go grab the books about Gilgamesh and we will begin learning about your actual king.”  
  
Finally.  
  
Hakuno grinned, following after the being so she could grab something to eat as well. They made quick work of the tasks, Enkidu’s hands filled with their goodies as Hakuno rushed through her flowers on the floor and landed on the bed. Petals fell every which way as the being joined her.  
  
“The first thing you need to know about king Gilgamesh is that he was not a perfect person.”  
  
Lies.  
  
Hakuno nodded despite the lies.  
  
Enkidu wrapped their arms around her again and opened the book. “Gilgamesh was born of the goddess Ninsun and her human love, the king of Uruk. Ninsun had fallen for the human and left the gods to bear him a son, whom was named Gilgamesh.”  
  
“And then they met you.”  
  
“I come later. Have patience, Hakuno.”  
  
She leaned back, sighing a little as the being brushed some of the flower petals off her and went on.  
  
“Do you want to hear what Gilgamesh looked like?”  
  
“Did they look like you?”  
  
“No, no. Gilgamesh had golden hair and it was quite short.” They motioned to the same length of hair that Golden Hair from before had. “They also had a very finely chiseled face and bright red eyes that seemed to just cut straight to the core of you.”  
  
So like Golden Hair.  
  
Hakuno smiled a little, turning the bracelet on her wrist.  
  
“He wasn’t the kindest person, even when he was younger. He had himself for a long time and there was no one else. Unlike you, he had found his own way of dealing with being alone. He fought back and was spoiled by the one person who he had on his side more than anyone. His mother helped make others listen and helped him gain a voice.”  
  
“Kind of like how you’re helping me?”  
  
“I suppose… although I am here to help you fight.”  
  
She nodded.  
  
“But Gilgamesh. We’re just talking about Gilgamesh. He grew up to become a strong king who swayed diplomats to his side and conquered the territories around his kingdom that went up against him. He slept amongst lions and swam in the depths of waters were not fisherman nor child dared to swim. When asked why he did those things, the man would simply shrug and tell them that he was bored.”  
  
“Bored?”  
  
“He took no pleasure in what he did. Everything in the end became work or became dull to him. He could not take joy in some of the fighting and actions that he did.”  
  
“What did he do?”  
  
What a strange concept to be bored. She couldn’t imagine taking no pleasure in anything. The world around her right now was so filled with colors and objects and there were so many people out there that were doing things right now. There were scary people like Smoking Man and there were exciting, pretty people like Golden Hair.  
  
Maybe Gilgamesh had never been able to see birds…  
  
“Gilgamesh started having dreams.”  
  
“Dreams?”  
  
Enkidu nodded, “he would begin to have dreams of the future when he went to sleep. He would see what was to happen and he dreamed of meeting me.”  
  
Oh, but that had her attention. Hakuno turned, waiting for more from the clay being.  
  
“I was a beast at the time,” Enkidu told her. “I wandered the woods. We had encountered one another before, but not more than a moment then. Now he dreamed that I would come to see him and I dreamed of joining humanity.”  
  
“How did you join humanity?”  
  
“Well,” Enkidu itched at their chin. “Gilgamesh sent a maiden to me. She stayed and showed me the deepest ways that humans can love one another.”  
  
“The deepest ways to love?”  
  
“Don’t even consider it, Hakuno. You cannot do such things until you are grown up.” Enkidu’s gaze darkened, lowering to her own until their foreheads were pressed together. “That method of love is far different than anything else in the world. It is meant for one a woman loves a man so much that she wants to have her own children with them. While some use it for pleasure, the overall goal can and often does happen. You should not consider it until you find that you want for something like that. Only then will I tell you anything more about that practice.”  
  
“…So this lady wanted mini yous?”  
  
Enkidu pulled back, hissing a bit. “…She… Wanted something. In the end, I am nothing more than clay and spit, fashioned for working alongside King Gilgamesh, but that doesn’t matter. She taught me how to be human and took me to Uruk.”  
  
The story went on, Hakuno’s mind imagining Golden Hair with Enkidu again.  
  
She could easily imagine them together like that for some reason. Maybe it was the way the other had gotten after her for not paying attention or the way the man had looked when they were talking. Golden Hair had seemed like he was just there to be amused. He hadn’t really wanted to talk to her to help her.  
  
To see him with Enkidu would have been a little funny.  
  
Enkidu would have been like how he was in the story, Hakuno thought to herself. The way the being described things, he would have pushed at Gilgamesh and made him laugh and fight far harder than he had before. It sounded almost like Enkidu had guided Gilgamesh into being better.  
  
At least, from the sound of things, Enkidu had gotten rid of the boredom.  
  
“Hakuno?”  
  
“Hmm?”  
  
Enkidu paused after describing the bull of Heaven. “Why don’t we go outside again and visit the birds? You look like you’re dozing off on me.”  
  
“Sorry,” Hakuno shook her head. “I’ll be better tomorrow.”  
  
“You’re fine, Hakuno.”  
  
The world was already getting dark by the time they made it outside, Hakuno’s feet carrying her across the grass to look at all the evening sky colors. She could sense Enkidu running into the trees, checking the area from what they had told her before. They always checked the area.  
  
It was for safety.  
  
The being dove out from one of the bushes closer to her and grabbed her arm. “Hakuno, I need to hide you for now.”  
  
“Why? What’s going on?”  
  
Enkidu shook their head. “There’s no time for explanation. Do you mind staying up and lending me mana for this?”  
  
She nodded. Of course she would. For Enkidu, she’d do anything.  
  
The being carried her deeper into the trees, climbing one near the place where the bench had been and depositing her against the high branches.  
  
“Do not speak,” they warned. “Do not cry out or move any more than you have to. I need to check to make sure they did not sense us. We will have to leave tomorrow to find a new place to hide.”  
  
“Is it the man from the bookshop?”  
  
Enkidu shook their head. “Don’t worry about that. Just stay quiet and safe for me, please.”  
  
“I love you, Enkidu.”  
  
The being nodded. “I will keep you safe.”  
  
And then they were gone.  
  
Hakuno leaned against the trunk of the tree and watched the colors fade into the dark canopy overhead. She could hear all kinds of creatures calling out in the darkness. Occasionally, she would see lights from the road, as bikes and bigger objects moved down the road. Strange bikes those bigger ones were. They had covers over the seat and more wheels than the one that Golden Hair had driven.  
  
There wasn’t anything to do but wait in the trees though.  
  
The world around her was getting too dark though. She could feel her energy draining now. It felt like the world was trying to put her to sleep, but she didn’t want to sleep. Mana trickled further from her person, no doubt going to Enkidu, but she could feel it stealing away her ability to stay up.  
  
But she had to stay up.  
  
She had to remain here and quiet for Enkidu.  
  
She paused as she saw something stop on the road. Her heart was racing as she saw someone climbing off a bike and heading her way.  
  
There was too much mana being drained from her person. She couldn’t do anything now. Everything was starting to get heavy. Her body pressed against the branch beneath her.  
  
They were coming. They could sense or see her or something.  
  
A dark thing came off their head, being tossed aside as they came closer. She couldn’t see the ground below the tree through the branches and leaves but…  
  
Gold.  
  
She had seen gold.  
  
Something was moving up the tree below. She could sense them getting closer and she closed her eyes, waiting.  
  
“You are full of surprises, aren’t you?”  
  
Hakuno opened her eyes, looking over at Golden Hair.  
  
“Here I am going home and you’re still hiding around here.”  
  
Enkidu had been keeping her inside since she had seen him, only having them wander the yard a few times before returning to reading.  
  
She opened her mouth to greet him, but closed it again. She wasn’t supposed to be talking. She needed to follow Enkidu’s instructions. The man looked at her closer though, looking around after a minute. “…You’re giving mana to someone?”  
  
Perhaps it was okay to nod. She nodded to him.  
  
“There is a fight happening nearby.” The man wrapped his arms around her, pulling her to himself. “…Come with me.”  
  
She couldn’t leave! She shook her head, motioning for him to be quiet.  
  
Shouts came as the man pulled her from the tree. She could see lights flickering their way. The man holding her just stood there, holding her close as people came upon them. A roar came from in the distance.  
  
“How interesting you are, little one,” Golden Hair murmured.  
  
“Don’t let them take me from my friend,” Hakuno whispered. “Every Gilgamesh needs their Enkidu.”  
  
The smile that came to that face made her chest feel strange. Those red eyes flickered to the lights shining at them his face turned dark. Strange ripples appeared in the air, rimmed in a golden color.  
  
And then the screams began.  
  
Long objects came from the ripples, slamming into the bodies around them. Like long knives, they cut into the people and silenced all of them. The lights fell to the ground. The sounds only lasted a moment in time, settling in with nothing less than the resuming of the creatures calling out in the night.  
  
Golden Hair set her down for a moment, patting her head before he moved to one of the last to be moving.  
  
“You’re still alive?”  
  
“We have to… take her back…”  
  
Hakuno looked behind her, debating where she could run before she heard another of those long knives slamming home into the body. Her stomach churned as she looked back, seeing those eyes looking at her from the dead body.  
  
It was different. She didn’t know these people. And now, they were all dead.  
  
Golden Hair moved to her side, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. His eyes drifted back towards where he had looked before. “…You won’t last if whoever is borrowing your energy keeps going at this rate.”  
  
“What do you mean?”  
  
More ripples. Hakuno closed her eyes, expecting to go next.  
  
Something smooth was set in her hands.  
  
“Drink. Don’t stop until the bottle is empty.”  
  
Hakuno opened her eyes, staring at the bottle. Her gaze flickered to the man at her side.  
  
“It is from the prized cow amongst the goddess Ninsun’s collection. It should at least keep your mana stable for while your friend fights.”  
  
She nodded, drinking without hesitation. It tasted poorly. She had to stop herself from gagging.  
  
Golden Hair just waited though, running a hand through her hair as he looked in the direction of the battle. His eyes seemed distant while she drank, like he was thinking back to something. His mouth was thin.  
  
“…There are more.”  
  
“More?”  
  
Golden Hair looked down at her, raising a brow. “Do you want your friend to live?”  
  
“Yes.” Hakuno handed him the bottle back. “They’re my only friend.”  
  
The man nodded, another set of golden ripples appearing above their heads. “You’ll do exactly what I say, just for a while, correct? Your friend feels wounded.”  
  
“I- Yes,” She simply agreed as the man narrowed his gaze a bit at her. “I’ll listen. Please don’t let my friend die, Golden Hair.”  
  
Something went off over their heads. She couldn’t see what it was though. Golden Hair leaped her way, tossing the strange black thing he had been wearing over her head and running back to his bike. His leg swung over the seat, her body pressed against his before they were traveling.  
  
The same roar she had heard before could be heard again. Something was making all the trees in the distance go off. Lights- no, fire. There was fire everywhere in the woods.  
  
Hakuno looked back through the thing she had on, watching the fire spread. She held onto the body holding her, tears pricking her eyes.  
  
“My friend-“  
  
“They’re fine,” Golden Hair yelled to her as the wind whipped around them. “I felt them move when I set off the fires. I will return you in a few days. They need to heal.”  
  
Hakuno closed her eyes. “I need you to heal, Enkidu,” she whispered. “Please don’t look for me until you do.” The back of her neck burned.  
  
_I will come for you once I heal_ , a voice seemed to whisper in her head. Enkidu’s voice, she realized with great relief.  
  
The bike they were on cut around corners, moving deeper into the darkness of the outside hallways. Her eyes closed as they slowed.  
  
The arms around her tightened as she was pulled from the bike. Golden Hair pulled something over his eyes, carrying her close as they approached a brightly lit doorway.  
  
“Evening, Sir.” Someone told Golden Hair.  
  
They moved into the brightly lit place. Her arms tightened around the man holding her. She forced her eyes open, watching where they were going. She needed to know just to be safe.  
  
If she needed to run, it would be good to know where to run.  
  
They moved into a closet like room, feeling the thing lifting higher and higher for some reason. Her eyes drifted up to the man’s, taking in the pair of red eyes looking down at her.  
  
Eyes that saw straight through you, Enkidu had described Gilgamesh’s eyes.  
  
Golden Hair’s were like that.  
  
“You should rest,” Golden Hair told her.  
  
“Why are you helping me?”  
  
The man yawned a bit, the doors to the room opening again. Somehow, the world around them had changed. The bright room was gone, leaving just a small hallway. The man pressed the buttons at the end of the hall, opening the door and carrying her in.  
  
They didn’t pause until they reached a bathroom, the man setting her down as he started a hose like thing in a smaller room within the room.  
  
“I’ll bring you one of my shirts,” he offered.  
  
“I’m fine.”  
  
“You have blood on yourself,” Golden Hair pointed out.  
  
“I’m fine.”  
  
He rolled his eyes a bit. “Bathe, little follower of Gilgamesh. Your king would want you to.”  
  
She hesitated, scowling at the man’s amused smile. “What’s so funny?”  
  
“Nothing, little human. I find you entertaining. Shower yourself and I will bring you something that your king would find suitable.”  
  
She nodded, turning away and stripping. The clothes that Enkidu had given her were ruined, covered in blood and sap from the trees and all kinds of other things. She should have been more careful. Enkidu had gone to such trouble for her.  
  
She moved under the water, rinsing and testing the bottles next to her.  
  
She hadn’t used anything like these before, but the nurses had before. These somehow smelled nicer than whatever the nurses had used. She poured just a little bit into her hands, hurrying so she wouldn’t take too long.  
  
Turning off the water, she climbed back out, wrapping herself in one of the big towels nearby as a knock came.  
  
“I brought one of my shirts,” Golden Hair told her.  
  
“Thank you.”  
  
The man moved forward, watching her a moment before he knelt down.  
  
“You are giving off too much mana.”  
  
“Sorry.”  
  
“Do not apologize, temper it down.”  
  
“Temper it down?”  
  
“Stop giving off so much at once.”  
  
Hakuno just stared at him. “I… I don’t know how I’m doing it. I can’t stop it.”  
  
A groan escaped the man. The shirt was tossed over her head, ending just where her dresses normally did. Her hands were pulled into his for a moment.  
  
“What are you thinking about right now?”  
  
“I’m worried about my friend.”  
  
“Stop worrying then.”  
  
“I-I can’t just stop worrying!” She stared at him in horror. “They’ve helped me do everything! If I lose them, then I don’t have anyone! I’ll be alone again and- and I…” She could feel her heart racing. There was more magic escaping her. She could feel it now. Golden Hair had been right. She was giving off too much.  
  
The man pulled her closer, pressing her to his chest.  
  
“Do you trust king Gilgamesh?”  
  
“I do. He’s the greatest king in the world,” Hakuno replied easily. Enkidu had trusted him. She would as well.  
  
“I know for a fact that king Gilgamesh would not allow your friend to die right now.” Golden Hair replied. “If he would not allow it, then you should trust him better and not worry. Let your friend heal and lower your mana output.”  
  
“You’re sure Gilgamesh is going to help them?”  
  
“I swear it.”  
  
She looked the man over a moment before nodding.  
  
It was hard to tell if they were lying or not, but he had taken her to get clean and he had helped Enkidu from what he had said.  
  
“I want to go find my friend soon,” Hakuno told the man.  
  
“I’ll take you back. I have no need to keep children.” The man motioned her towards the door. “I need to go to bed. You will be fine with the sofa, won’t you? Children like sleeping in weird places.”  
  
“Sofa?”  
  
The man led her to the other room again, a grand window looked out into the city outside. Hakuno paused, looking out at it all.  
  
“Good view, isn’t it?”  
  
“Everything is lit up.” Had she caused that? Were they all looking for her and Enkidu? She had never seen so many lights before. And she’d never seen them all look so small. Was she in heaven?  
  
Her eyes drifted to the man near her.  
  
Golden Hair.  
  
Red eyes.  
  
“Are you Gilgamesh?”  
  
The man smirked, crossing his arms. “What gives you that idea?”  
  
“Only gods get to see people like this,” Hakuno told him. She motioned at the window. “And Gilgamesh was the son of the goddess Ninsun. So that makes him a god too.”  
  
“Ah, little mana source,” the man replied. “You may call me Archer, for lack of better names. Who I am does not matter. You’re going to go to sleep.”  
  
Archer.  
  
Hakuno shook her head, climbing onto the space that Archer herded her to. Her hands pulled the thick, soft blankets closer to herself. Her eyes drifting back up to the man’s face.  
  
“It’s okay if you aren’t Gilgamesh,” Hakuno told him.  
  
“Oh?”  
  
She nodded. “I don’t want to make Gilgamesh share his friendship with me and Enkidu. Enkidu is the perfect friend. I would never be able to be the kind of friend and fighting partner that Enkidu is.”  
  
The man just froze, watching her.  
  
“I’m right, you know.” Hakuno nodded, looking away so she could curl up on the soft space. This was far better than anything she had ever slept on. “Gilgamesh should be able to just have one friend like he wanted. I would be in the way.”  
  
“What if there were other positions you could take other than friend?”  
  
The man’s voice was soft. Almost so soft that she couldn’t make it out.  
  
“I’m not good at anything yet. Maybe when I’m older… Maybe I could be important.”  
  
The man stood there for a while. She could sense him standing there watching her close her eyes and try to sleep. Then she heard them moving, pouring something before he settled nearby. Her body migrated to his lap as something made noises in front of the sofa. His hand drifted through her hair gently. The smell of something like grapes was in the air.  
  
Hakuno found herself drifting in and out of sleep, her eyes opening blearily as she felt the man pull her from the sofa and carry her off towards another room.  
  
She was set upon the fluffiness of the clouds themselves.  
  
A greater warmth covered her person as she found blankets pulled over them both.  
  
A pair of red eyes watched her in the distance. Like the eyes of a wild animal, they watched her. But there was something wrong with the way that he looked at her. It wasn’t like the kind and happy eyes she had come to see with Enkidu.  
  
There was something broken about these eyes.  
  
Something dark was hidden away deep within these eyes. As a hand stroked her cheek, Hakuno blearily looked at the man.  
  
“Enkidu…” The man murmured softly.  
  
“…my only friend…” Hakuno tried to tell him.  
  
Those arms pulled her closer, his face pressing against her hair.  
  
“Do you remember Humbaba and the Ceder Forest,” the man murmured.  
  
“You were scared,” Hakuno murmured back.  
  
“I won’t lose you this time,” Archer murmured. “Those humans must have found a way to reincarnate you, Enkidu.”  
  
“Archer…” He was confused. She wasn’t Enkidu. She was-  
  
“Rest, my friend,” the man murmured. “We can talk in the morning.”  
  
She could only nod.  
  
Tomorrow she would straighten things out.  
  
They could find Enkidu together.


	6. God and His Priest

The morning was unlike anything she had ever experienced before in her entire life. Opening her eyes, Hakuno could only think of one thing: She had never woken up in such a wonderful way before.  
  
She wasn’t tired. Nothing ached from being laid on or from laying on something hard.  
  
She didn’t feel like she was cold or too hot from when the air conditioners would go out.  
  
Nothing itched at her skin.  
  
Hakuno moved to sit up, looking around the room again as she tried to think through what she was feeling.  
  
The blankets were so heavy in this bed, thick enough that it felt like she was burying herself in their comfort. The sheets under her were so slick that it felt like she could slide right across them without any resistance. The pillows. Oh, but she liked the way the cushions here smelled.  
  
They smelled like strangeness and Enkidu.  
  
They reminded her of the candles Enkidu bought for them to have light at night.  
  
Hakuno pulled one of the longer cushions into hand, pressing her face against it. The smooth sheets like those under her were covering this cushion. The cushion was also warm, like someone had been lying on it.  
  
She smiled, unable to help herself.  
  
“If that is any way to inform me of your gratitude for saving you last night, then I accept it on the condition that you do not change your ways when you learn more of me.”  
  
Hakuno looked over at the man- Archer. He had told her to call him Archer.  
  
“Good morning, Archer.”  
  
Archer smirked, still leaning against the doorway. His arms were crossed over his chest, but he was wearing robes over his lower half. It reminded her of Enkidu. Maybe only nice people hated being fully dressed. “Good morning, my little follower. You seem to have slept well.”  
  
“I did.” Hakuno nodded at that. “Thank you for helping me and my friend last night. I didn’t realize that they were using so much mana.” Actually, she wasn’t sure how to tell how much mana was being used. She would need to find Enkidu soon. In the meantime, she would just stay here where it seemed to be safe. This man knew of Gilgamesh as much as Enkidu did. It would be okay.  
  
“Yes, well… It is not often one finds someone capable of summoning servants.” The man moved into the room, grabbing a change of clothes from the closet. “You are a strange circumstance as well. There is no grail war for another few years yet. At least, from what I know. You having a servant is certainly a surprise. From where does your servant hail from?”  
  
“They are from Uruk.”  
  
Archer closed his eyes, smiling a little more. “So interesting. I assume they no doubt wanted you to learn of King Gilgamesh out of respect for their culture.”  
  
“King Gilgamesh is the greatest king there is. Everyone should know who he is.”  
  
“And what would you know of them?” Archer asked, pulling his shirt around his person and beginning to button it into place. “I find it very odd that you would speak so personally of Gilgamesh, who lived over thousands of years before you were even a thought in your mother’s head.”  
  
He had a good point, but…  
  
“Gilgamesh is a god.”  
  
“Half god. The gods would not be able to kill him without recompense, but the man was still that.” Archer turned, dropping his robes so he could put his pants on.  
  
Hakuno pressed her face to the pillow more. “He might be a half god, but he is a full god to me. I know that if I were in any danger, he would come to help me or would send someone to help me. Maybe he doesn’t realize it, but he would. He’s just that good of a friend.”  
  
“You think the gods serve you?”  
  
“No, they just do not like things that interest them dying out.” Hakuno looked over as the man finished buckling his pants and stared at her. “You wouldn’t want things that interest you dying so easily, would you?”  
  
“You speak so easily of dying and of gods.” The man was scowling again.  
  
He didn’t look as pretty when he scowled. There was something wrong with his face like that. She wanted to see him smile and laugh like Enkidu did.  
  
Moving to her feet, she made her way off the bed. She marched herself over to the man and smiled up at him. She still held his pillow. She was going to keep it for a while.  
  
“Yes?”  
  
“Smile.”  
  
The man raised a brow, but did nothing else.  
  
“You look upset and I don’t like it. A king would never sulk so much.”  
  
“Ah, and there you go again. Speaking to me of kings.” He was beginning to smirk a little at least, kneeling down so they were face to face. “And what makes you so sure that a king would never sulk? Are your kings not allowed to be in foul temperaments?”  
  
“They can be upset just like everyone else, but if you were a king like Gilgamesh, you would laugh at danger and you would smile despite bad moods. Because he knows he can get out of any danger so long as he has his friend, Enkidu, at his side.”  
  
The man paused at that, leaving her to look away as her stomach growled.  
  
“…I’m going to go look for some food,” she told him, heading for the door to the bedroom. The man behind her seemed like he had a lot on his mind for some reason.  
  
The pillow was set on the bed as she left, wandering across wood floors to the area that looked like it had a fancier version of the fridge in the church. Archer’s fridge was sleek and metal. It opened and was even colder inside than the one at the church.  
  
But there was no real food from the looks of it. Lots of glass bottles instead.  
  
“How hungry are you?” Archer asked behind her.  
  
“Really hungry.”  
  
The man moved to the counter nearby, opening one of the little doors and handing her a thing. A weird thing. It looked like there was something inside, but…  
  
“How do I eat this?”  
  
“They are crackers. I don’t keep food here normally. I don’t partake in many meals in my own home.” Archer opened the thing and handed her one of the small squares from inside. “I have some cheese to go with them as well… Although you cannot fully enjoy them since you are too young for wine. You would be unable to indulge in the full flavor of it.”  
  
“I hate being young.” Hakuno munched on the cracker, wrinkling her nose.  
  
“Don’t like them?”  
  
“Do you have anything sweet?” Hakuno moved to stand on her tiptoes, trying to see in that high doorway that he had pulled the crackers from. “These crackers taste like sadness.”  
  
The man laughed. He leaned against the counter and laughed so hard that there were tears forming in his eyes.  
  
“Oh, but you act so much like them. I swear, it’s too much. You’re making me ill, Child.”  
  
Making him ill? Hakuno set the crackers on the counter and grabbed his side. “We need to get you in bed then. You shouldn’t be up when you’re sick.”  
  
“What’re you gonna do about it? Call the hospital?”  
  
Hakuno froze, her eyes widening. “…Not them. You would be killed there. The hospital is full of bad people. You can get better with sleep. You just need rest.”  
  
Those red eyes narrowed a little, but the man hoisted her up into his arms. “I am not getting ill in that manner. You are too much this morning.”  
  
“Oh.”  
  
She didn’t know what he meant, but if he wasn’t sick then it was fine.  
  
“I need to wander out to get you something to wear, since you have come to me covered in filth.” The blond set her on the counter. “And you will have to suffice with crackers. I don’t own food and beggars cannot be choosers. Perhaps if you are lucky, your patron god, Gilgamesh, will bring you something nice later.”  
  
“I’m alive. That is enough.” She resumed eating the crackers. They were at least still better than the food from the hospital. When they decided to give her food, anyway.  
  
“No complaints?”  
  
Hakuno looked over at them. “Hmm?”  
  
“I am leaving you in my home. Alone. There’s no sweets or anything.”  
  
“Okay.”  
  
Archer moved closer, standing over her. “You will be here until I deem otherwise. No one will be able to get in or out. You’ll have nothing to do.”  
  
She munched on another cracker.  
  
“Of course, you were sitting in a tree. You are accustomed to being bored. Naturally, you’ll probably just go to sleep until I come back.”  
  
“I want to look at your house,” Hakuno told him. “I like the room with the fancy bottles of nice smelling things and the hose.”  
  
“The shower?”  
  
She nodded.  
  
“…Where did they keep you?”  
  
“In a hospital.”  
  
Archer frowned, narrowing his gaze a little before a knock came. Those nice red eyes flickered to her a moment before he cursed.  
  
“Damn him. I said I would meet him later.”  
  
“Who is it?”  
  
“I cannot talk of him, my mana source. Come with me.” He lifted her up again, hurrying her to his room and setting her on the bed. “If you would like to be alive this evening, you do not say a word. No crying. No laughing. No nothing. No matter what you hear, you do not say anything or let them know you’re here. He will kill you and I am debating on letting him.”  
  
She nodded.  
  
“You are quite obedient.” Archer murmured. “Stay here, little follower of mine.”  
  
She listened to the door close, another opening after a moment before another voice entered the other room.  
  
“Gilgamesh.”  
  
Hakuno perked up at that.  
  
“Priest.”  
  
She wasn’t going to sit around when there was someone talking to Gilgamesh. She hurried to the edge of the room, peering underneath the door where a small crack under the door let her see into the other room. She could see feet.  
  
“I assume you heard about the loose mage.” The Priest’s feet moved across the floor, stopping in front of her eyes.  
  
“I don’t pretend to listen to your conversations, Kirei. They bore me.”  
  
“There is a commoner family that has decided to experiment on the last of their line. It’s caused… complications.”  
  
“Oh?”  
  
“No one is giving details, naturally. The family is being quiet about whose mana circuits were used, but a select few have been picked to hunt the child down. They must have used someone of value.”  
  
“And this brings you to my door because…”  
  
Archer didn’t sound pleased. Hakuno leaned a little closer.  
  
“The mana circuits are being kept quiet. They had their entire team originally selected be slaughtered last night. The place was set on fire. It seems that the child is also teaching themselves.”  
  
“Children are curious and aggravating. I have no doubt the thing wants to learn.”  
  
“I will not disagree with you. You’ve seen my having to handle young Tohsaka. However, this child is possibly capable of traveling over 600 kilometers from where she was being held. To here. The Mages Association is very interested as to what would bring the child to here of all places. And then to hide near the Einsbern Manor.”  
  
“How old is the damn brat? I would imagine an adolescent-“  
  
“Twelve.”  
  
“Twelve? She is practically of hunting age already.”  
  
“I have been told she should not know how to read or write. From what I have been told, she should not have been able to get out in the manner that she did. They think she may be able to perform magic on a level unknown to us all.”  
  
“She?”  
  
“The child is a girl.”  
  
Hakuno slipped further back, looking around the room for somewhere to hide. She didn’t like how close the priest had sounded. He had seemed like he was getting closer. What was to stop him from opening the door?  
  
“You want to use them for the grail.”  
  
Archer didn’t ask, he said that like it was a fact.  
  
Use her for the grail?  
  
“You can imagine what Tohsaka and this child would create for a grail.”  
  
“Yes, but the child’s magic is uncontrollable. You said yourself that the thing traveled over a great distance and escaped through unknown means. They could have protection of their own.”  
  
“The grail war begins soon.”  
  
“In at least three years, by your count,” Archer argued. “You cannot simply intend to keep the girl hidden away in a drawer somewhere. People will ask questions… Especially if she is strong.”  
  
“I hid you.”  
  
“I don’t entertain children, Kotomine.”  
  
His voice had gone lower.  
  
“You would simply need to contain her until we can kill her. A simple task even you should be able to handle.”  
  
Hakuno pulled herself up from the floor, hurrying away. Her eyes scanned the room before she hurried into the showering area. She opened the small doors under the sink, curling up amongst the towels as she heard the bedroom door opening.  
  
“What are you doing, Kirei?”  
  
“Your place has more mana in it for some reason.”  
  
“I protect what is mine. With the Mages Association closer to our doors, I am improving my security.” The two men were growing closer.  
  
Maybe they sensed her. Hakuno closed her eyes and focused. Archer had said when she worried, she gave off more mana. She just needed to relax. Calm thoughts.  
  
She could imagine Enkidu here with her. Enkidu would laugh at her and hug her tightly, telling her that everything would be fine. They were nearby too. If this person got too close, Enkidu would kill them and take her somewhere safe again. They would always escape, because Enkidu was the greatest of friends and they had said that they would keep her safe.  
  
“Are you satisfied, Priest?” Gilgamesh’s voice pulled her from her thoughts. “You have searched my home enough.”  
  
Footsteps entered the bathroom for a moment before the man with Gilgamesh sighed.  
  
“I had half hoped you had encountered the little girl. I went to the bloodbath and saw what carnage she was capable of. You would have been impressed. It seems her power is somewhat like what I remembered of yours.”  
  
“There is no power similar to my own.”  
  
“She was also looking into the tales of Gilgamesh. An interesting topic for a twelve-year-old with no knowledge of the outside world, don’t you think?”  
  
“Old power knows its own.”  
  
“If you find her, inform me immediately. The Association can rot while we plan.”  
  
“Are you trying to command me, Priest?”  
  
“I would try, but no one commands you. Knowing you, there is a chance you will simply kill her. I am here as a warning. She will be far more useful as material than dead and needing to be hidden.”  
  
“I can’t help but to wonder what the association will think of your callousness to their cause. After all the work they have put in to ensure that this city is repaired and that none are left the wiser to what happened in the grail war…”  
  
“We will meet later this week. I am informing the visiting mage of the child next.”  
  
“Visiting mage?”  
  
“He arrived yesterday with his apprentice. Some lord from London. I’m sure you would recognize them if you saw them.”  
  
“I do not know nor care for the lords of your little groups.”  
  
The doors opened and closed, but Hakuno remained in place, holding a hand over her mouth. She could hear Gilgamesh moving around for another few minutes before the doors opened and shut again. The house went quiet.  
  
She couldn’t help herself. Normally, Enkidu would have asked for more mana by now. They would have pressed her hands to the being or hugged and she would focus her energy towards the being. Instead, she found herself shaking a little.  
  
There was a lot of mana.  
  
So much mana.  
  
Maybe…  
  
Gilgamesh wouldn’t mind if she did a little magic in the home, would he?  
  
She could do what she had done the other morning. She closed her eyes, focusing again. She headed into the bedroom to fill the room with flowers. They were nice to look at when you first got up in the morning.  
  
Her eyes fell to the bracelet as she still felt her mana going off.  
  
Maybe…  
  
Maybe she should try another way of creating something. She had never tried to create gold before. The man looked like he liked gold a lot too.  
  
She headed into the big room with the sofa to try that. If she wanted to create something out of gold, she needed to see examples. The big room had lots of examples.  
  
Her eyes drifted to a statue of a strange animal.  
  
Maybe…  
  
She stared at the creature as she focused her mana again. She could picture Gilgamesh having a handful of these creatures with him. They must have been lions or something. Enkidu had mentioned them and they looked a lot like how Enkidu had described them. They had long, odd noses and fluffy tufts of fur around their heads. And they had long wires that were whiskers that grew from their eyebrows and cheeks.  
  
She could imagine Gilgamesh laying in those robes like this morning, half dressed and leaning on one of the lions while another couple rested on either side of him. He would look over, kind of like he had when he had been telling her about having to stay home.  
  
Enkidu would probably drape themselves over Gilgamesh, looking over at him with an amused smile like they always had.  
  
The door beeped, the knob turning as Hakuno broke from her daze.  
  
In front of her, the gold statue of Gilgamesh with the lions and Enkidu stood proudly. She looked around before standing in front of it. No no.  
  
She grabbed a blanket from the couch and covered it before hurrying into the bedroom again. She scooted passed all the flower blooms and into the bathroom, hiding behind the door.  
  
The sound of the person moving through the house could be heard.  
  
Something slid across something else in the other room. The silence consumed the place for a moment before she heard footsteps come towards the bedroom. Another moment of silence began.  
  
“…You have been busy,” Gilgamesh’s voice rang out. “Do you seek to play hide and seek all day?”


	7. I Am Your King

“Archer.” Hakuno looked around the bathroom door, finding the man picking up a few of the flowers. His gaze flickered over to her, a smirk coming to his face.  
  
“Not going to hide away from me?”  
  
“I didn’t know if it would be you or someone else.”  
  
“No one else can get into this place without my permission.”  
  
She nodded, slowly walking into the bedroom now. “I um… I had a lot of mana.”  
  
“I can see that.” The man looked back into the other room. “Is it often that you make things like that statue?”  
  
“It was my first try.” Hakuno moved closer to the man, finding a couple bags near his feet.  
  
“You probably want to wear something other than my shirt.” Archer motioned at the bags. “I need you dressed. I also brought you food.”  
  
She moved a little closer still, opening the bags and gaping at the clothing.  
  
It was so soft!  
  
“That impressed.” The man laughed, pulling her to her feet. “It is a simple dress, little one. I have far better attire in my treasury-“  
  
“It’s even more amazing than anything I’ve ever seen.” Hakuno looked up at him, holding the dress close to herself. “Can I really have this?”  
  
“I bought it for you. You have to accept it.”  
  
Hakuno couldn’t help the smile that came to her face. She moved to her feet, turning around and lifting the shirt off immediately. She looked at the dress with interest, trying to figure out how to get it to work. The material was so soft, the color reminding her of the clouds with how white it was. It had the same gold and red colors in the bow on it. It was pretty but…  
  
“I may need help.” Hakuno looked back at the man, watching him sigh.  
  
“It is nothing so complicated.”  
  
“The center fabric is tied.”  
  
“It’s decoration, little one.” Archer pulled her closer, tossing the dress over her head and fitting it into place. “There. The thing is plain, but you are also plain. It seems adequate enough that you would wear something that befits your appearance.”  
  
“Thank you, King Gilgamesh.”  
  
“You were listening earlier?”  
  
Hakuno nodded.  
  
“So you know I have been asked to keep you so that you can die.”  
  
She nodded again.  
  
“Then you know that you are not going to be able to simply leave my home at this point.”  
  
Again, she just nodded. She wasn’t going to simply leave. She was going to wait for Enkidu and then they would all be happy enough that no one would be able to stop them. Enkidu would be happy. Gilgamesh would be happy.  
  
It was perfectly fine.  
  
Gilgamesh moved in front of her though, frowning a little. “You have absolutely no concern about what I could do to you, do you?”  
  
“You won’t hurt me. Hurting me hurts Enkidu.”  
  
The man’s gaze narrowed. “This again. You keep mentioning them.”  
  
“Enkidu is great, but you are the best there is. Thank you for helping me again. I will help you in return, I promise! I am not good at much, but I can make things.” She picked up the flowers and held them up for him to see better. “I made the statue and I made these flowers, but I bet I could make other things as well.”  
  
“You are using old magic then.” The man lifted one of the petals up, moving it between two fingers. “It would make sense… All your references and ability to make things in the way of Enki… You cannot be anything like a reincarnate. My drunken stupors need to end.”  
  
What was he talking about?  
  
Hakuno frowned a little, but the man wrapped his hand around her own and pulled her along. The other room had a cart in it. The thing was piled with boxes and things.  
  
“I got things that only certain people that I know would enjoy.” Gilgamesh told her. He moved to the counter, pulling out various foods from the boxes and setting them on the countertop. Ripples appeared near the statue when his gaze flickered over in its direction, sucking up the statue where it stood.  
  
“What are those ripples?”  
  
“Hmm?”  
  
Hakuno pointed to where the ripples were disappearing.  
  
“Those are the Gates of Babylon. They are where I keep my treasury. I always keep my valuables in the gates.”  
  
And her statue had been taken and put in them. Hakuno grinned a little, moving to the chair on the other side of the counter and looking at all the food.  
  
“Try this first.” Gilgamesh held up a spoonful of something, making her wrinkle her nose.  
  
“Gross.”  
  
“It is bitter, but it is good for you.”  
  
“I like sweet things.”  
  
“You should eat healthy things too.”  
  
“Fruits are healthy. I like peaches and plums and-“  
  
Gilgamesh rolled his eyes, “ever the sweets lover. You are hurting me with such talk, girl. I do not believe my drunken self, but you make me question my own sober mind.”  
  
Old people were confusing. Maybe it was something kings did, just questioning things without explaining. Hakuno slipped her hand to the plate with a large brown circle on it.  
  
“Oh? I see. Trying to sneak the sweets in first.” Archer pulled it back and pushed a green filled bowl her way.  
  
“That is grass.”  
  
“It’s a salad.”  
  
“It looks like grass.”  
  
“There are other things on it.” Archer rolled his eyes and held up a stabbed selection of the greens. “Come on, eat for your king. I declare that you must eat the greenery before you indulge in the pleasure of sweets.”  
  
“You are so mean to your friends sometimes, King Gilgamesh.” Hakuno pouted a moment before reluctantly taking a bite. She wrinkled her nose. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t tasty. After having such good foods, it was hard to simply eat boring foods like this.  
  
“I can dress it up, I suppose.” Gilgamesh was frowning a little, had been from the moment she had complained to him. He poured something onto the greenery, the stuff looking dark and unappetizing. She wrinkled her nose further, but ate obediently.  
  
He had demanded it, after all.  
  
They ate through the greens in the bowl and Gilgamesh moved to sit next to her.  
  
“Do you know what we normally ate in the palace in Uruk?”  
  
“Butter cakes and honeyed food.” Enkidu had been happy to describe those lovely foods. She wanted to try them so bad.  
  
Gilgamesh paused again, leaning in closer. “…Who made the butter cakes?”  
  
“Si… Si…” She knew this name… “Siduri.” Maybe it was Sidney. She couldn’t remember.  
  
Gilgamesh seemed to find the answer right though. His eyes drifted over her again and he stood up, looking around the place again and running his hands through his hair. The man looked over at her and shook his head.  
  
“You may help yourself to the cake, little one. I think I need something for my head.”  
  
“Are you okay?”  
  
“Just… not believing it. There is no written record of Siduri anywhere in my texts. I saw into what people know and they felt no need to know that information. For you to know leaves very little possibilities.”  
  
She reached for the cake, pressing her hand to it before the man behind her laughed.  
  
“So much like them. You do not eat that with your hands. Let me cut you a slice.” Gilgamesh cut into the cake, cutting a triangle out and setting it on another plate. The pronged object from before was set in her hand, her hand wiped off.  
  
“Thank you.”  
  
“I asked you if you were a master before. Do you have command spells?”  
  
“Those red marks?”  
  
Gilgamesh nodded.  
  
“I don’t know. I haven’t seen them.”  
  
“Have you commanded your servant?”  
  
“Yes, I asked them to stay and recover before coming to find me here.” Hakuno paused from eating, looking over at the king. “When I asked, my neck hurt.”  
  
The man moved behind her, lifting her hair up and running his fingers over her hairline. “And there they are. How interesting. You hide them just as you hide everything else. What is it with you and secrets? I can’t help but to find out another little bit of interesting knowledge after another with you.”  
  
“I’m not that interesting.”  
  
The man looked her over before moving closer. “So my little friend within human flesh, what is it that you plan to do? The humans are crawling after you. They will not stop hunting for you until they find you.”  
  
“I don’t want to be found. I’ll live in the trees.”  
  
“Amongst the animals.”  
  
“I like the animals. The birds sing pretty songs and the trees have protected me so far… and you have.”  
  
The man sighed. “It is as though you’ve reverted back to older ways. I suppose there is no choice.”  
  
“You talk to yourself a lot.”  
  
“I do, don’t I? You will have to talk to me more to keep me from having to say anything further aloud.” The man leaned forward, grinning a little. “Do you think you can do that? I am your king, after all. You and your servant belong to me.”  
  
“We do.”  
  
“You should not so easily accept belonging to someone, little one. Many men are possessive. You offer them your soul and they will expect to keep it. No matter who or what comes along. No matter how much your feelings change, they will not let you go.”  
  
He looked like he was worried about that for some reason. Hakuno looked at the cake she had and held up a bit for him to eat. “It’s fine,” she told him as he ate from her pronged eating utensil. “I belong to you and you can do whatever you want with me. You always treated Enkidu well. You made them feel like the most important human being in the entire world. Being with you is like being able to touch the clouds in the sky.”  
  
Gilgamesh stood still for a moment, eyes looking her over a moment before he moved to sit on the sofa. The screen in front of him clicked on again.  
  
“Finish your food,” he told her when she moved to stand up. “I bought too much, but you can eat the rest as you get hungry. When your servant appears, I will plan out what we will do next. You can consider yourself my servant from this moment on. What I say goes.”  
  
Hakuno bit into the cake, her eyes closing as she made a sound.  
  
She couldn’t help it. Her toes even curled at the taste.  
  
Before she could think better of it, she was off her chair, running over to the man on the couch and holding up a bite for him.  
  
“I have tried your food, little one.”  
  
“You have to try this.”  
  
Gilgamesh looked over at her, noting her excitement before he clicked the screen to darkness again. He leaned forward, opening his mouth and tasting the cake.  
  
She watched him eat, deflating a bit as he simply ate the cake and nodded.  
  
“It is okay.”  
  
“It’s the most amazing thing I’ve tasted.”  
  
“You must not have had the liberty of tasting many things.”  
  
She nodded at that, settling at his side and continuing to eat. The cake was so good.  
  
The man’s arms moved around her after a time, the screen turning back on before the man propped his feet on the small table in front of them. He pressed a button, changing the scenes in front of them. A thousand different people seemed to come and go from the screen. Some where in horrible moods, some where facing monsters and bad guys. She curled up closer to him as he paused for a minute on a hospital scene.  
  
“Problem?”  
  
“Make it change again.”  
  
He kept it on the screen though. “You should never fear anything, little one. Fear is the same as losing. Do you doubt your servant and me so greatly?”  
  
“No, you both will keep me safe.”  
  
“Then stop allowing them to strike fear into your heart. Sit properly next to me.”  
  
The man didn’t sit properly when she was done though. His head moved onto her lap, a yawn escaping him as she was given the remote and flicked to a scene of colorful things moving in water. Her eyes were glued to the screen, earning a yawn from the man.  
  
“Fish?”  
  
“Is that what those are?”  
  
“They are. They’re tasty too.”  
  
“Why would you eat them?!”  
  
Gilgamesh shrugged. “They are like anything else captured by humans. Cooked and prepared because we need to survive.”  
  
“I don’t want to eat fish.”  
  
The man laughed, yawning a bit. “Always protecting nature. You’re as hopeless as ever.”  
  
“King Gilgamesh?”  
  
“Just Archer, little one.”  
  
“Archer, I have a question.”  
  
“I’ll humor you,” the man replied. Those red eyes looked up at her. “What’s your question?”  
  
She hesitated, thinking. “…Are you bored?”  
  
“Hmm? What makes you ask that?”  
  
“You were bored when you were king. You did things because they were something to do. I was just wondering if you were bored here.”  
  
The man looked towards the screen for a few minutes, watching the fish as his face fell. One of his hands moved to her hair after a while, leaving her to wonder if he was actually going to answer. Perhaps she had upset him.  
  
Hakuno pressed against the cushions of the couch, leaning back a little more into the plush fabric. Her eyes drifted towards closing as the fishes disappeared. Lions were stalking across the screen now, just as amazing as they were in statuary in this room.  
  
The man’s fingers twirled around a bit of her hair.  
  
“I suppose I am bored, little one, but you are here to fix that. You and your strange ways that are so much like them.”  
  
The man fell asleep.  
  
Hakuno looked down and grinned, digging her hands into his hair and feeling the golden hair. His hair was so soft, but Enkidu had been right. It was short.  
  
It would probably look better long.  
  
She leaned in closer.  
  
Maybe she’d just…  
  
The golden colored hair grew longer, curling a bit as it lengthened and went down the sides of his face. Hakuno could feel her eyes widen a little at the length of it. The thickness of it was even like the gold she had seen around the house. Yet it was still so soft.  
  
She ran her fingers through it again, smiling more.  
  
This was her work. She had made his hair longer.  
  
_Hakuno._  
  
Hakuno perked up a bit, sensing Enkidu’s voice.  
  
“I am with Golden Hair,” Hakuno murmured. “I made his hair long and he is going to keep me safe from bad people.”  
  
_Do you want me to come get you?_  
  
Hakuno shook her head. “I’m safe. Please heal and give me two hugs when you come get me.”  
  
_If you need me, please use your command spells. I do not like being away from you to heal._  
  
Her hands paused from stroking Gilgamesh’s hair. “I don’t like being away from you either, but I know the bad people are close. I would rather you be safe for a while longer and then come find me. We can leave together.”  
  
_This time when I come to get you, I’ll take you further. We will need to leave these lands and find somewhere else. Maybe I will show you were Uruk stands._  
  
“Sleep for a while longer please.” Hakuno whispered to the being.  
  
_Give me a bit longer, Hakuno._  
  
“I love you.”  
  
She sensed the being was gone.  
  
A hand grabbed her own though, eyes drifting up to hers.  
  
“…What did you just say?”  
  
Hakuno paused. “…I said I love you.”  
  
Gilgamesh moved to sit up, but he paused again when he noticed his hair had lengthened. She couldn’t take her eyes off it. The color of it was even better when he was upright. It shone like the sun when he moved. There was so much of it.  
  
Her hands reached up, running through it again.  
  
“What is this, little one?”  
  
“I wanted to see what your hair looked like long.”  
  
“You should not do magic on people when they are asleep.” Gilgamesh glared at her. “What would you have done if your magic had gone wrong?”  
  
“I haven’t gone wrong yet.”  
  
“That does not answer my question, child.”  
  
She huffed, crossing her arms. “You look wonderful. I wanted to see if you looked wonderful with long hair and it’s pretty. You could cut your hair if you don’t like it.”  
  
Gilgamesh moved closer, his hair like a curtain as he leaned over her. She tried to glare at him, but his hair… It was so golden. It was so nice.  
  
Her face fell, eyes taking it in.  
  
“You like my hair that much?”  
  
“You are the most beautiful man I have ever seen,” Hakuno told him simply.  
  
Those eyes closed, foul temper tamed as he faltered. When he opened his eyes again, she could see his smirk back in full force. She was coming to like that smile on his face. It suited him. He was always saying things that felt pointed.  
  
“Your hair is quite plain,” he told her.  
  
“I know. It isn’t as nice as yours.” She nodded at him. “It’s mine though so it will do. I can just appreciate you and that will be good enough.”  
  
“You aren’t concerned about your appearance?”  
  
“Why would I? I don’t really talk to people. I have bad people after me. I don’t need to worry about my appearance. Plus, you and my friend give me nice things that help me look better. My friend cut my hair and brushes it out. You gave me a nice dress. I am fine.”  
  
“Your friend did not brush out your hair today.”  
  
“Nope, they’re still healing. I told them to take their time. I will wait for them to heal.”  
  
“Your servant should know that you need to be safe. They are failing as a servant.”  
  
“No, they killed the doctor that was trying to do bad things to me. I’m fine.” Hakuno smiled more. “They had all these chains and they stopped the doctor from being able to touch me again.”  
  
“Touch you?”  
  
“He used to draw these weird symbols on me and he would make me feel tired and then sometimes he would run his hands over-“  
  
“I don’t want to hear anything more than that.” Gilgamesh held up a hand, gaze narrowing a little more. “Your servant killed them with chains?”  
  
“That’s what they call them. My friend just ran them straight through the doctor.”  
  
Gilgamesh sighed.  
  
“Is something wrong?”  
  
“Your doctor deserved far worse. Your servant allowed them to have too much of a peaceful death.”  
  
“He was bleeding all over the floor. I think he got what he deserved.”  
  
“Did you feel remorse? The doctor is still a human being. They probably had family or-“  
  
“He made everyone believe that I was a liar and he made my body feel wrong and he would hurt me. He made my mommy and daddy say horrible things to me and hate me.”  
  
“And that means he deserves death?”  
  
“No, it doesn’t. My friend told me that he wanted to make a sickness that only he could heal. I think he was going to do more horrible things. People who do bad things deserve to die.”  
  
“And what do you want?”  
  
“What do you mean?”  
  
Gilgamesh moved to sit next to her, brushing his shoulder length hair back. “You said that the man wanted to make people sick. What do you want? You have a servant. You have plenty of mana. What is it that you want?”  
  
“I don’t know… I wanted to meet you, but now that I have, I need to come up with a new dream. Maybe we could go to Uruk.”  
  
“Uruk has fallen. There is no Uruk now.”  
  
“Then I want nothing. I will help my friend be able to win the fighting and then I’ll give you the wish so you can think of something.”  
  
“And why would you give it to me.”  
  
“Because you are Enkidu’s friend and you would have a good wish.”  
  
The man looked at her again, shaking his head. “You are neither arrogant nor shy. You don’t have any wishes and you obey too well to commands. You lack something, but I cannot say it’s pleasure… Perhaps an ability to take anything for granted. I suppose if you gave me the grail, I would simply wish for you to be bored.”  
  
He could wish for whatever he wanted. Hakuno moved to grab her plate and pronged utensil before returning to that cake from before. She carefully carved another slice before returning to Gilgamesh’s side. She held up the first bite for him and found the man sighing again.  
  
“It is good,” she bribed.  
  
“There are so many better things. I am going to have to teach you properly how to be picky.”  
  
“I like this better than the grass you fed me earlier. Isn’t that picky enough?”  
“You’ll see.”


	8. Close To The Sun

“What is this?”  
  
“This is music.”  
  
Hakuno leaned against the man, listening to the sound as the man holding her drank from a glass. The drink was something he had told her tasted ‘very bitter’ so she wasn’t worried about it. Better for him to drink it all so it wouldn’t be around the house.  
  
The music they were listening to was very soft, very gentle. She smiled a bit and continued to play around with the blooms she was creating in the room.  
  
After all, he had said he had liked them to her a bit ago, declaring that he wasn’t going to clean them up from the bedroom and bath. “They are your responsibility at this point. Keep them alive in our home.”  
  
Her eyes closed after a while, face pressing against his chest.  
  
“Can you tell me about your adventures?”  
  
The man behind her snorted. “You can go read a book.”  
  
“I haven’t finished learning how to read. I’m still having trouble with some of the kanji. Sumerian is easier, but no one writes that way anymore.”  
  
“You’re reading Sumerian?”  
  
“I can’t do it well, but-“  
  
The man opened his gates again, pulling out a collection of scrolls from within. They fell loudly to the table a moment before he was picking one up and handing it to her.  
  
“Read to me then, mongrel. I want to see how well your so called reading is.”  
  
She sighed. It had only been a few days with Enkidu teaching her. That wasn’t exactly fair of him to simply hold his writing out and ask her to read. She wanted to learn more from him, not from some dusty paper. She could feel him holding her a little closer though. The flowers in her hands fell to her lap, leaving her to simply open the long paper and frown.  
  
“…You fight a bull.”  
  
“You have to read from the beginning,” the king instructed, his fingers motioning at the very edge of the long paper. “Make sure to read it to me and not just summarize. I will know if you are skipping anything.”  
  
“I don’t want to upset you by messing up.”  
  
“You will upset me. Don’t let it stop you. Everyone disappoints everyone else. Stop caring so much about it.” He ran a hand through her hair and leaned back a little more on the couch. “And speak up over the music. I’m not stopping it simply to have to focus in on only your reading.”  
  
Hakuno turned her attention back ot the writing. “…There was a goddess a time ago by the name of um…”  
  
“Ninsun.”  
  
“Ninsun. She decided to something with a human king. She um… she made you.” Hakuno looked over her shoulder at the man, earning a nod as she looked back at the writing. She worked slowly, pausing and pointing at things on the long page as she unraveled it. The king holding her nodded and opened his eyes at times to glance at the words she was struggling with. She slowly found herself asking him other questions.  
  
His hands played around with her hair after she started to see patterns. The different ways that the words were formed were starting to slowly make sense. She leaned against him a little and glanced back as the man when she found his arms wrapping back around her waist. Her hair was tied up.  
  
She smiled at him, earning a smirk from the man.  
  
“Problem, little magician?”  
  
“I just like your eyes,” she told him, wanting to say something.  
  
Those eyes gleamed at her, like the fire from candles. “Keep going, little mage. You wanted to know more about me. This is your best opportunity.”  
  
She nodded, turning her attention back to the writing, continuing on.  
  
He was moving around more. The gates opened nearby, pouring more of that bitter drink he liked into his glass. Other things drifted out, landing loudly on the table next to them. He was looking through the collection of things, pulling some over to them and holding them to her neck. A weight began bearing down on her neck after a time, her eyes drifting down to the golden necklaces. It had multiple gold pieces, like long curved lines connected together. Her hands pressed against it lightly before she went on.  
  
She smiled at the sign of Enkidu in the story, her eyes drifting back at Gilgamesh.  
  
“Keep going, mage, keep going.”  
  
“I will. I just wanted to hear about Enkidu with you.”  
  
“Oh? And here I had thought it was just me you wanted to hear about.”  
  
“Mostly.”  
  
The hummed, his attention returning to his wine glass. “Go on then. I’ll allow the story to continue a while longer.”  
  
She nodded to him, her attention going back to the writing. The writing was becoming more difficult to read though. She couldn’t make out the writing as well as before. Even Gilgamesh was frowning a little as he tried to help her. His grip on her tightened as she read about the green haired servant of hers.  
  
“Enough,” he told her, as she started to read about a forest. “Let’s see what your magic can do, since you are working with olden magic.”  
  
“What do you want me to do?”  
  
“I-“ He paused, hearing the knocking on his door. “Damn it all.”  
  
“Who is it?”  
  
“Most likely Kirei. You know to go to our room, correct? No coming out for the priest. He still would like to kill you, no matter how much of my jewelry I adorn you in.”  
  
“I’ll make sure not to be hidden,” she promised the king, hurrying along to the bedroom and closing the door. She could hear Gilgamesh curse a bit and taking a minute before he acted. His footsteps echoed in the other room before she heard the door open.  
  
“Tohsaka is being difficult.”  
  
The sound of footsteps entered the home as Hakuno pressed against the wall by the door, listening.  
  
“Are you surprised?” Gilgamesh’s voice spoke up. “She is a child and a useless mage.”  
  
“Useless? She has more mana and power than any other being in this city. She will make an invaluable grail when the time comes. However, she is fretting over that worthless blood sister of hers.” A sound came as she heard a loud yawn.  
  
“I don’t particularly care. Vent to one of the mongrels that visits your church. You have workers amongst the church.”  
  
“I do, but they cannot keep secrets. You, alone, keeps my confidence.” The room went silent for a minute before- “what is all this jewelry doing out?”  
  
“I do not question your daily activities. Do not question mine.”  
  
“…Pour me wine. We need to strategize.”  
  
“I have my own aims this evening. I will visit you tomorrow.”  
  
“You never have aims... This is the second time you have acted up on me. Your home has more mana in it than before as well."  
  
“Do not assume to know me so well, priest. I have little patience this evening.”  
  
“We need to discuss the young woman roaming loose in Fuyuki. You did not visit today.”  
  
“I have no interest in the being.”  
  
“The grail-“  
  
“Priest. Leave.”  
  
She couldn’t help herself, she peeked through the crack in the door, watching the priest look up at Gilgamesh’s bemused look. It was almost scary, how serious the king looked right now. He had a couple ripples formed behind the priest.  
  
“You will explain yourself tomorrow.”  
  
“You may believe such drivel if it makes you leave my home more effectively.” Gilgamesh was turning, opening the door.  
  
The sound of footsteps echoed for a moment before the door was closed. She waited a minute, holding her breath.  
  
“He is gone, my little magician.”  
  
Hakuno opened the door, peering out at the room. “He came back.”  
  
“He will no doubt prove to be difficult, but it is nothing that I cannot handle. He has almost died before. Killing the priest is an easy task. A mere mutt could manage if they had the inclination. The other mages may become a problem… Their connections are useful though. We will need to think of some way to be able to use them properly.” The man knelt down slightly. “Come here.”  
  
There wasn’t even hesitation as she hurried over to him, finding the man picking her up. Both he and Enkidu seemed to enjoy doing that. She felt him holding her closer and grinned a little.  
  
“The priest forced my hand and my living room is without life.”  
  
She glanced back at the sofa area, finding the flowers gone.  
  
The king deserved to enjoy flowers. He was a lot like Enkidu in that way. What was great was she didn’t even have to try that hard to form them this time. As soon as she closed her eyes, the blooms were forming. They drifted in the air around them as the petals drifted to the floor and the blooms formed along the table and the floor.  
  
Gilgamesh’s eyes drifted over the white flowers and he held her a little closer. “One more thing, my little mage.”  
  
“What is it?” She stared up at him in question.  
  
“I need you to sit where I tell you so that I can do something. Can you do that?”  
  
“I can do that easily.”  
  
The king set her on the counter, handing her one of the blooms that had drifted from the countertop to the floor. His ripples opened nearby, disposing an item into his hands.  
  
“You must sit still,” he warned.  
  
The item he had brought forth clicked as he held it over his eyes.  
  
“What was that?”  
  
“Let me show you.” He turned the thing around, showing an image of a little girl sitting on the counter. Hakuno blinked, looking back up at him.  
  
“It’s me.”  
  
“I took a photograph. It’s something people do when they want to prove something belongs to them in this time. I had the thought come to me a while ago when you were reading. If I lose track of you for some reason, I will use this photograph to bring you back to me. There are groups of people out there that I can give this to who will find you and drag you back to me.”  
  
“They won’t have to drag me. They just need to point me in your direction.” Hakuno looked down at the photograph and shook her head. “But this photo isn’t very good.”  
  
“Excuse me?”  
  
“Can we take the picture together?”  
  
The king stared at her a moment before rolling his eyes. “You want to take a photo with me? In your plain state?”  
  
“Yes.”  
  
“You do realize I will distract from you.”  
  
“I don’t mind. I will like it.”  
  
He turned the camera around again, wrapping an arm around her and laughing a little. “You are a little fool to think you can simply take a photograph with me. You will look hideous in comparison, but I suppose I will indulge a loyal subject such as yourself.”  
  
She smiled at the little thing as it clicked again. The man turned the camera around again and laughed harder.  
  
“You are a little fool, mongrel. Look how big your smile is. You would think I had simply given you some more of those sweets to eat.”  
  
She couldn’t help but to take the camera from him, looking more closely at the picture. It was the best thing she had ever seen. They would have to take another soon, once she had Enkidu with them. Then it would be perfect.  
  
“Are you that smitten with me?” the king asked, amused as could be.  
  
“I don’t know what that means, but I love it.” She held the thing back to him, watching him return it to the ripples from before.  
  
“Come on, little mage. I need to prepare for bed. If I must face that useless priest tomorrow, I want to do it fully rested. We can enjoy a bath before then.”  
  
She followed him dutifully.  
  
The bath was far different than anything she had taken before, her pleasure in it only hindered by the fact that he took off the jewelry he had put on her from before. Still, any feelings of disappointment were gone the moment that the man handed her one of his shirts to wear to bed and pat the bed for her to join.  
  
Her arms wrapped around his waist, eyes closing as she drifted back to sleep.  
  
When she awakened at dawn, the man had vanished, but she wasn’t worried about it.  
  
Gilgamesh was the greatest of kings after all.  
  
She focused instead on the scrolls that had been left in the living room. She wanted to learn everything about him. Everything about his language. Her eyes strained over the worst she had been reading the night before, comparing the more difficult to read writing at the end part of the story to the easy to read writing at the start. She felt her eyes drift back to the door.  
  
Where was he? Was he close?  
  
Hopefully he didn’t take too long with the priest.  
  
She wouldn’t have gone to see him. The priest was mean and said rude things. If she were the king, she would have just killed him and gone back to enjoying their time together.  
  
When she was through the scroll, she closed it back up, looking around before she moved over to the kitchen area and ate some more of the food. The fruits that he had brought the day before were in a bowl, tastier than anything Enkidu had gotten them. But then again, it was hard to compete with a king. He had the best of everything.  
  
She moved to the window next, watching a couple birds sail across the skies.  
  
The world outside was beautiful from here. There were so many places to see and the blue horizon that touched the skies sparkled in her direction. Without a doubt, they could see eternity here. There was a vast array of forever and heaven here. If she died right here, the only thing she would have wished for was to see Gilgamesh and Enkidu one last time.  
  
Hakuno?  
  
“Hello, Enkidu.”  
  
How are you doing?  
  
“Enkidu, what’s the blue sky that is on the ground?”  
  
Hmm? Blue sky? What are you looking at?  
  
“There’s a blue sky that is glinting with little mini things on it and it is touching the sky.”  
  
You must be looking at the ocean. It’s a big body of water. People ride boats across it or swim in it. There’s lots of fish in there as well.  
  
“I saw fish!”  
  
I’m sure you did. I’m glad. They are quite pretty, aren’t they?  
  
“They are. How are you feeling?”  
  
I am feeling well. I think I will come find you this evening. I have some ideas of where we can go to be free. Once I find you, we can discuss it with the person that has been so generous as to hold onto you. Do you think Golden Hair will mind if I join you this evening?  
  
“I think it would make him very happy.” She wasn’t going to tell the being about who Golden Hair was just yet. It would be a great surprise for them both.  
  
Please be sure to let them know that I will be coming to see you this evening.  
  
“I will. Don’t worry.”  
  
The being seemed to vanish with that, leaving her to eat her peach and watch the sun glisten across the ocean. There were little things drifting across the ocean as she watched, birds flying passed the window.  
  
Everything would be perfect in the end.  
  
She was going to bring together the two greatest heroes in all of history. Her scroll Gilgamesh had made her read said that he had been upset when Enkidu had died and had gone to see gods about it. Well, now the gods were useless. She was going to bring them together instead. And this time, because Enkidu was a servant, no gods could take them away.  
  
“Little magician,” Gilgamesh’s voice called as the door began to open behind her.  
  
“King Gilgamesh!” Hakuno grinned proudly, running over to the door. His shirt was still on her from the night before. She hadn’t bothered to change, instead enjoying the smell of the scents he used on himself.  
  
The king looked down at her, snorting at her appearance. “You look like a little fool running around like that. What did you do all morning?”  
  
“I watched the ocean.”  
  
“How boring.” Gilgamesh shook his head, closing the door behind himself and wrapping his arms around her. “It has been a trying day, child. There are things we need to discuss.”  
  
“I have good news for you! My servant is feeling better and is going to come to see us tonight!” Hakuno beamed at him. “They said they were feeling a lot better and they want to meet you. I said that it would be okay.”  
  
“You told them that you are my servant by choice, correct?”  
  
“They will listen to you. Don’t worry!” Enkidu loved him as much as she did.  
  
The man smiled that mean smile of his and she simply continued to feel happiness. He didn’t really know how to smile very well, but they would work on that. He must smile like he was going to say something mean because he got bored so easily.  
  
“When your servant arrives then, we will talk about other matters. I would like to understand why you were in the hospital and what they intend to do about the problem following you. I’ll need to talk about what I have decided for us though. There have been several mages sent here to bring you back to your family. I haven’t felt that much mana gathered in a long time. Your parents were even there.”  
  
“They were?”  
  
The king nodded. “They were ungrateful mongrels. You do not belong to them now, do you understand?”  
  
“I belong to only you,” Hakuno told him.  
  
“You do. Do not forget that. It is very important that you understand that a king’s word is law. No matter what you start to think as you get older, you belong to me. You and all of that magic you have.”  
  
Hakuno nodded, earning the man’s hand running through her hair again.  
  
“Good. As I said, there are a good number of mages around. What I will tell your servant is that I will need your servant to take you somewhere for a while until things calm. I will help fund the trip myself, just to ensure that you remain safe. I will only ask one other thing of you before you leave.”  
  
“What’s that?”  
  
Gilgamesh looked down at her and shook his head. “Naturally, with mages close, I may need you to steal away the memory of you from me.”  
  
“Steal- I can’t do that.”  
  
“It will just be for a bit. You can return it to me upon your return. I will listen to you. Simply show me your bracelet that you cherish so much and I will listen long enough to remember.”  
  
“I don’t have a good memory. I forget things!”  
  
Gilgamesh shook his head. “With the mages I have seen, there isn’t a choice, Hakuno. The priest and the others are suspicious of me right now. I will help you and your servant and you’ll return for me when things are calm.”  
  
“How long will that take? Couldn’t you escape with me?”  
  
“You did not see the mages I saw today, Hakuno. They will not stop looking until they find you. I have plans for that. I plan to make you both fake your death. If you can make things from nothing, then I will have you make something that will make them all believe you are dead.”  
  
Again, she went to complain and the man stopped her. He simply picked her up and carried her to the couch, wrapping a blanket around them both and leaning back. His arms wrapped around her tighter.  
  
What had the mages been like for him to think of this plan?  
  
They had been able to face the mages amongst the trees. He hadn’t even hesitated to kill them all. He hadn’t had a problem with preparing to kill the priest last night either.  
  
To be afraid of these mages…  
  
Hakuno pressed herself closer to the man and began to make him more of the flowers he liked. She could feel herself hesitating a bit. These new blooms were quite as pretty as the ones she had made before. Hopefully, he wouldn’t mind.  
  
Even as she thought that, she could feel his fingers moving through her hair.  
  
“You will need to be careful with my memories,” Gilgamesh told her after a while. “If you take too much from me, I will not forgive you, no matter how much you apologize.”  
  
“I won’t. I promise.”  
  
“And you must return them to me when the time is right,” Gilgamesh murmured to her.  
  
“I will give them right back.” The words were thick in her throat.  
  
He tilted her chin back, grinning a little. “Sounding so sad. Do you think yourself one of those pathetic crackers from my cabinets?”  
  
It was hard not to be sad, especially at the reminder of his sad crackers. Hakuno rubbed at her eyes a little, shaking her head. “It’s not fair. I just got to find you and you’re sending me and my servant away. I thought we would just get to be together.”  
  
“You make it sound like we were together for a long time.”  
  
“I don’t want to end up like Enkidu and lose you,” she breathed.  
  
Those red eyes looked down at her, his smile faltering. The man pulled her closer, pressing his lips reluctantly to her forehead.  
  
“I don’t want to forget you or take something I can’t return,” she whined.  
  
“You can give the memories to your servant, if you are so scared of losing them,” the man murmured to her. “I will grant you that privilege. So long as you trust that your servant will allow their safekeeping and return, it is fine. You belong to me. I know you will not forget about me.”  
  
He didn’t know though.  
  
She had forgotten so many things before. She was human, but only because of Enkidu. Outside of this world with Enkidu and Gilgamesh, she was nothing more than an abomination. Her grip on the king tightened.  
  
“You show too much fear,” Gilgamesh murmured. He wiped at her eyes gently. “You belong to me and so does that useless servant of yours. No matter how much you try to deny it, nothing will change that fact. Do you understand? Once you are back in my arms, I will find a way to teach you properly how to read more Sumerian and I will make you build me an entire palace in this city. We’ll build a throne room and palace so grand that the humans of this world will have no choice but to bow down before me. We’ll wipe out all the horrible mongrels like your family and rebuild the world to our own aims.”  
  
“Can we get rid of the bad people?”  
  
“All of them,” he vowed. She felt his lips on her forehead again. “I know a few humans offhand that the world would be better without. My pure little magician, I will use you to my own ends and let you fill the world with those blooms of yours. You will create the most beautiful gardens I have ever had.”  
  
“I will. I will fight Ishtar away if I need to as well.”  
  
The king laughed, the sound echoing in the room. “I see! You’ve been reading again.”  
  
“I’m getting better.”  
  
“You learn far more quickly than most humans. It’s impressive. And how do you intend to get rid of that useless goddess?”  
  
“I don’t know…” Hakuno shook her head. “Maybe we can curse her to Ereshkigal from the underworld?”  
  
His laugh was louder, his arms tightening around her. “You may not be my Enkidu, but you are mine now. My own pet human. I will keep you close to me when our enemies turn away and we will wipe them all out. That is what I will wish for with the grail we shall win. Together, we’ll wipe out the useless mongrels in this world and lead the survivors into the new age.”  
  
“I love you.”  
  
The king looked down at her, his smile brighter and more beautiful than anything she had ever seen before. His face seemed a bit red for some reason. “When you are older, you may say such things to me. Do not say such before then though. I will not raise my hopes up when you have hardly bloomed as a human.”  
  
She nodded, pressing her face to his side.  
  
Maybe she could wish upon the grail as well, just to be a little older.  
  
Maybe she could stay at his side if she were a little older.  
  
Or maybe Enkidu could take away the threats tonight.  
  
She would have to wait and see.


	9. Like Tears From A Star

Hakuno remained against the king for long enough that her legs began to fall asleep. Her face pressed against his chest. Her arms held onto his waist. She didn’t want to forget anything. Not the feel of his soft shirt and warm chest. Not the feeling of his hands going through her hair. Not the little threats he made about if she forgot a single thing about him or their time together. He warned her that he did have the statue she made and the photograph of her. He would remember her one way or another after she was gone.  
  
If she took too long, he would hunt her down. No matter how old she got.  
  
If she got too old, he’d find a way to steal back all that time that she had been away and force her to spend twice that time with him again, ensuring that she served him in the most lowly of positions imaginable.  
  
Well, he didn’t need to worry about that.  
  
She promised to come back.  
  
Even if she was going to persuade Enkidu to hurry with whatever plan he had for them. Even if she was going to come back sooner than he wanted. There was no way she was going to be gone that long. She was going to be able to give him back his memories soon enough.  
  
When he stood up to go get them something to eat, Hakuno forced herself to make him more flowers. Red and gold ones this time. She wanted something like the necklace, but to go over his hair. She smiled at the result, the flower circle formed nicely in her hands as the king returned.  
  
“What’s that?”  
  
“It’s for you.”  
  
“Oh?”  
  
Hakuno stood up, moving to the arm of the sofa and standing on it so she could reach up properly and set the circle of flowers on his head. She grinned at him as she pulled back. “Enkidu always saw you with jewelry, but you don’t wear that much anymore. I know it’s not jewelry, but I make flowers better than gold and you seem to like my flowers more anyway.”  
  
“I am impartial. You may make me both.” He set the flowers on her head instead, nodding at her. “We should begin…”  
  
Her eyes drifted to the door as well.  
  
There was no denying what they were feeling.  
  
Mana.  
  
Powerful, strong mana.  
  
Something was on the other side of the door.  
  
Gilgamesh’s eyes narrowed, gates opening as he looked towards the door. His arms were around her waist, running for the bedroom. There wasn’t time to argue. He tossed the dress at her, watching the door as she quickly changed into proper clothes and put on the shoes he had set near the bed the night before. Her arms were holding his as they waited.  
  
A knock came.  
  
They didn’t move.  
  
Another set of knocks. Something moved near the door. She could feel it a moment before the thing opened.  
  
The same long knives from before slammed into the beings on the other side of the door, knocking them down and making them bleed out onto the floor. Gilgamesh’s arms wrapped around her tight. His keys were grabbed from the counter.  
  
They leaped over the bodies as they ran.  
  
The doors of the moving closet closed in front of them, blocking out the sight of the bodies.  
  
“Magician,” Gilgamesh demanded, “you need to tell your servant to come immediately. We don’t have a choice. I will tell you what needs to happen and you will need to listen to me. Do not fail me, do you understand?”  
  
“I won’t. I’ll have them come immediately.”  
  
Gilgamesh set something from his pocket into her hands. “This is a card with money on it. Lots of money. You need to take your servant and go to what’s called an airport. Fly anywhere. Away from here and a place called London. Avoid London. You need to create a body that looks like you and leave it somewhere in this city. The mages will find it and give up looking for you. It’s important to make the body before you fly away at the airport.”  
  
“Humans can’t fly.”  
  
“They can if they use an airplane.” Gilgamesh looked at the light moving above the door. “we’re almost to the ground floor. We will find a lounge area and your servant can meet you outside the front doors. The other mages will come to question me. I need you to make sure they don’t find out about you. Take all the memories of you away.”  
  
“I-“  
  
Those red eyes were so close. “I need you to do this. We can’t have them find you before we get the grail. We need the mages to trust us if we are to get the grail in three years.”  
  
The doors opened.  
  
Hakuno nodded, holding onto his hand as he hurried them from the room. Her eyes drifted to the front of the building, to the man standing near the counter.  
  
She knew that man.  
  
Smoking Man.  
  
Her hand gripped Gilgamesh’s hurrying them towards the door nearby that the man had started them towards.  
  
_Hakuno._  
  
“I need you to come to me quickly,” Hakuno whispered, ignoring Gilgamesh’s eyes looking over at her. “Smoking Man from the bookstore is here. I think he knows that I’m here. I think I’m going to be taken back to the bad place. Please, En-”  
  
She gasped a bit as she heard snarling in her mind, making her grip of Gilgamesh’s hand tighten. She looked up as the man hoisted her into his arms.  
  
“What’s wrong?”  
  
“I don’t know… They started making a weird noise when I spoke to them. When I try to sense them…” She wasn’t sure how to describe the feeling that was running through her. It felt like the magic but so much more potent. It felt like she needed to run as fast and as far as she could. It felt like her hands and her feet would become different for some reason, like she would have to dig into someone to flee. Her chest ached at the feeling.  
  
“Do not focus on the mana being lost. Focus on me, my little magician. Listen to me. You are mine,” the king told her. “Tell me that you are mine.”  
  
“I am yours.”  
  
“Say it with more feeling.”  
  
“I am yours, king Gilgamesh,” Hakuno murmured, leaning her forehead to his.  
  
“That’s a good magician. You remember what I told you in the elevator, right? About the plan?”  
  
“I need to take your memories, make a fake me to leave somewhere, and then I need to fly away on an airplane at an airport. I should have my servant take me.”  
  
“You will stay away for three months.” Gilgamesh held up three fingers. “Three. Then you come straight to me. I want to hear about everything you saw while you were away from my side. You are interesting and I will find it entertaining to listen to you prattle on about simple things.”  
  
“I will miss you.”  
  
“Three months and then never again.”  
  
She nodded, finding the man moving to a sofa in the room. He leaned his head back, smirking at her.  
  
“Only three months, my little mage. Use my money to come back to me.”  
  
“I will.” Hakuno moved closer, pressing her hands carefully to the sides of his head. Memories were stored in the head, after all.  
  
She closed her eyes, leaning against him.  
  
But…  
  
She froze as she tried to think about what she was going to do. She tried to will the memories of herself away from him. She needed them to be gone.  
  
All of the memories. Finding her on the bench, saving her from the bad men amongst the trees, having her in his home, thinking about her at any time between then. She needed all of those memories gone. But what else was connected to her? What if he had thought of an idea of something because of her? Was his dream for the grail and for ruling the world connected to her?  
  
She needed him to want to rule the world because he was Gilgamesh.  
  
He was superior to everyone, far more powerful and brave than anyone else. He was the only one fit to rule in this world. The only man who could be king of them all. He would remove the world of all those unworthy and leave only those he deemed suitable. He had the best taste, after all.  
  
Only Gilgamesh could be the ruler of all.  
  
When the war happened, he would get the grail because he was the king. He wouldn’t worry about fighting, simply bringing the grail into fruition and using it to make the world as he willed it.  
  
Those red eyes opened, making her pause.  
  
The door behind her was thrown open. She could sense Enkidu behind her.  
  
She glanced behind herself, feeling a grip on her arm. The pain of that grip made her cry out.  
  
“What are you doing," the king sneered. "Worthless-“  
  
The world stopped in that moment. She was forced to watch, forced to look upon what happened in horror as a blue green limb flew before her face, slamming against the golden haired king's own face. Red came forth as she found herself pulled from the man's arms. Her body was turned, pressed against a strangely fluid-like body. Her body shook hard as she looked back, seeing the king's body shaking. That head was rising once more.  
  
The king laughed in front of her.  
  
She had messed up.  
  
She had messed up so badly.  
  
“A mage’s golem, I’m guessing?” He spat red onto the ground, eyes drifting upwards.  
  
Hakuno looked up, towards the being holding her. Enkidu’s eyes were open, but- their entire face was strange. More claylike than before. Splashes of a green-blue color were covering his skin. If they recognized the king, they gave no indication. They seemed more doll-like than anything else.  
  
A snarl came from the being.  
  
“…You can’t…” The red eyes widened, staring at the being. His mouth dropped, his eyes lowering to her before he narrowed his gaze.  
  
This wasn’t the plan he had made. She couldn’t make him have his memories back yet. Even if she wanted to.  
  
She had told him that she would follow his plan.  
  
Hakuno turned her face to Enkidu again, pressing it to his chest. “Don’t kill him but… Please…”  
  
The being pounced, a loud smack came from the king’s direction.  
  
She could feel something warm running down her cheeks as the being leaped back into the other room. More animal than human; the sound of screams came from all directions as they moved towards the door. The doors were thrown open, the sounds of the strange bikes were all around them.  
  
And they kept going.  
  
Going and going.  
  
But she had failed the king.  
  
Gilgamesh had needed only his memories of her taken. She wasn’t sure of what else she had done to him, but it hadn’t been right. Those hadn’t been the same eyes she had seen before when she had looked at the king.  
  
Her king Gilgamesh had been amused by her flowers. He had taunted and held her, but just now… Her wrist hurt from him grabbing her.  
  
Her body shivered in the beast’s grip. She could feel them making distance.  
  
Right now, there was no way to go anywhere with people. They needed to wait until the being had become human again.  
  
But that was okay. She was a beast too.  
  
She couldn’t face humanity like this either.  
  
Hakuno held the being tighter.  
  
She would never use magic again. Never. It had hurt those closest to her. Those who had seen the world as it truly was and believed her when she said what she thought and what she felt. It had destroyed him, in a way that she wasn’t sure she could fix.  
  
More warmth on her face. She reached up with a hand, shakily wiping at it only to see the clearness. She was crying. Weeping. She could feel the sensation making her feel sick to her stomach.  
  
The world was gone. Humanity behind them.  
  
They were somewhere colder. She could feel it against her skin as they moved in the cooler air. She welcomed the feeling, wanting to feel that cold over the feeling in her body right now. If only she could sleep for the three months she had promised to be away.  
Let her sleep rather than feel these tears.  
  
_Hakuno._  
  
Hakuno shook her head as they began to slow. Her arms wrapped around the being, holding them tighter.  
  
“Hakuno,” the being murmured, their mouth beginning to reappear.  
  
“I can’t do magic, Enkidu…”  
  
The being was slow about it. She could feel them stop near the side of some rather large rocks, her body being pressed against the smooth side as the being before her began to morph again. Those arms wrapped around her body, pulling her close and pressing their cheek to hers.  
  
“I don’t want to do magic ever again,” Hakuno breathed. “I hurt him… I hurt him so bad…”  
  
“Golden Hair?”  
  
Hakuno nodded. “You saw who he was…”  
  
Enkidu shook their head. “sometimes, if the anger is too much, I don’t see in the way that you do with your eyes. I see only by mana signature. I saw their mana close to you, I did as I needed.”  
  
She wouldn’t tell them who it had been then. She wrapped her arms around herself and choked on the air in her lungs. “I-I can’t do magic, Enkidu… I stole too much from his head.”  
  
“Stole- What do you mean, Hakuno?”  
  
Hakuno pulled away from the being. “I can’t do anything about it. I tried to take only the memories of me, so that the others couldn’t find us, but I took too much. I c-can’t control the m-mana. I hurt him… I hurt him so bad.”  
  
Enkidu tried to move closer again. She shook her head, tears coming in too hot as they fell down her face.  
  
“I do it too easily. I don’t want to-“  
  
“I love you.”  
  
Hakuno stared at the being, feeling her chest shaking as she breathed. She couldn’t see very well anymore, her vision was swimming from the streams going down her face. Yet the being came closer, dismissing her warnings to wrap their arms around her.  
  
“I love you,” the being murmured as they held her close. “You silly little human. My little magician master.”  
  
Gilgamesh had called her his little magician.  
  
Her face pressed to the being’s chest.  
  
Those arms held her tighter to themselves. Their body held her so tightly that she could hardly breathe. “You are cursed with too much strength. You are so very much like me, little Hakuno. It is alright. You don’t need to do magic ever again. I will use that mana and keep us both safe. I admit, I will miss your flowers, but I will bring you flowers to make you happy just like you made them for me to make me happy.”  
  
The sounds that escaped her were inhuman, loud and echoing the feeling from her heart. It sounded like the feeling of her chest being torn open from the inside. Even though there was nothing happening to her because nothing could happen to her.  
  
Enkidu was here.  
  
Enkidu would keep her safe.  
  
But she…  
  
She would not help them. She was the danger in this place and with this being.  
  
“Hakuno,” Enkidu rested their head upon hers, rocking her in their arms. “Do not cry like that please. You make my heart weep with you when you cry. You are safe with me. There is no one and nothing that can get you when you are with me. Do you understand?” The being tilted her head back, kissing her forehead.  
  
She couldn’t see now. Everything hurt. Everything was too much.  
  
“My Hakuno… My master. Please…” They kissed her cheeks and her nose. They pressed their lips to her forehead again and leaned in close. They rocked her so carefully in their arms. “Whatever happened, whatever you did, it is done. You cannot cry over what has happened and gone. You are here with me. Let the bad memories fade away. Be here with me. We will go anywhere in the world that you want to see. We can look at the ocean or see the great world of sand and skies. I will show you what wolves are and how to howl at the moon. Please, please don’t cry.”  
  
“Enkidu…”  
  
They wiped at her face again, shaking their head. “My sweet master with your gentle heart and sweet eyes the color of the earth, do not cry. The world will cry with you. The moon will hide and the animals of the night will scream in outrage.”  
  
Hakuno gasped at the air, feeling her body jump a little now.  
  
“Listen to you hiccup. You’ve made your body malfunction.” The being leaned against her, cheek to cheek with her. “do not weep, Hakuno. I will fix everything. I am your weapon, your protection. I will be anything that you need me to be. That is why I am here. That is why your mana cried out to me from the holy grail.”  
  
She wrapped her arms around the being tightly.  
  
“That’s it,” they murmured. “Let me take away the pain. For once in your life, my master, let someone else take the pain. There is to be no pain in your heart. No sadness. Let me take away all of that.”  
  
“I don’t want to make you feel pain,” Hakuno told the being. “You are my only friend… You deserve only happiness.”  
  
“Then let’s find happiness together.”  
  
Hakuno closed her eyes, nodding. “I want to go back to that city… to Fuyuki.”  
  
“Now?”  
  
“In three months.”  
  
She would find Gilgamesh and give him back his memories. If she could.  
  
Enkidu pulled back, wiping at the tears in her eyes and nodding. “I will take you back, but I need to find a place for us to hide again. This time, it will need to be further from humanity. I cannot risk losing you. When we go back to that city, we can only go for a small bit of time.”  
  
“I know.”  
  
The mages were too close. Gilgamesh had said some really powerful mages were looking for her.  
  
Enkidu pulled her back into his arms, nuzzling his face to hers. “You are truly the most wonderful master, Hakuno. Let the tears dry for now. Tell me how beautiful the ocean was. You sounded so excited this morning when I spoke to you. Tell me about anything that made you happy while we were apart.”  
  
“I just missed you,” she murmured, afraid to mention the great king.  
  
Enkidu chuckled at her, hugging her more tightly. “Ah, you spoil me. And you are not being honest with me again. Must I teach you how to be honest so often? I suppose it is the fault of youth. You are no different than my king.”  
  
Hakuno buried her face against the being, feeling the tears trying to form again.  
  
“Please tell me about him again,” Hakuno murmured. “I really want to hear about him.”  
  
She would keep whatever memories of his that she possibly had alive and her own memories of him alive through Enkidu’s stories.  
  
“Gilgamesh was a liar at times,” Enkidu began by telling her. “Only when he felt that the truth was too much to bear. He didn’t want to worry people, you see.”  
  
Hakuno nodded. She understood that very well.  
  
“What he didn’t know was that, by not telling people, he was hurting them far more greatly than by telling them what was happening. He caused a lot of trouble by doubting what strength others around him had internally. He needed to learn and he did learn very slowly that people are stronger than you think. Whatever pains and deeds had happened, he needed to be honest about it.”  
  
Hakuno bit her lip, closing her eyes as the being carried her along.  
  
“He learned honesty at a strange time,” Enkidu told her, moving through the trees quietly. “We had just been brought together by the gods, fought to exhaustion with one another. We had heard about a great beast in the woods, Humbaba, a creature most foul. They were able to strike down anyone that crossed their path. But you know how Gilgamesh and I were, we cannot be taken down. Especially when we are together. We are the most powerful team in all of existence.”  
  
“You are both really strong,” Hakuno murmured.  
  
“We are. We decided, after hearing of the beast, that we needed to go and kill it.”  
  
“And you did. You went into the Ceder Forest and killed the beast.” She had read about it in the scroll Gilgamesh had given her.  
  
“Ah, you know a bit of the story. Did you read ahead of me when we were together?” Enkidu gave her a look before focusing on the surroundings again. “We did beat the beast, but it wasn’t without falter. About halfway into the forest, Gilgamesh looked at me and asked, ‘what if we fail?’”  
  
“What did you say?”  
  
“What does the mightiest king’s humble partner say? I told him to stop talking like that and prepare to dine on the entrails of the beast. We are without parallel. We are the great fighters of Uruk. If we are unable to beat the beast, then no one in the universe could defeat the beast.”  
  
Hakuno nodded.  
  
“Fear is the same as losing,” Enkidu told her. “When you let the fear set in, that is when things go wrong. That is when you lose your humanity. You saw it with me. I heard you say that you were being taken back and I revealed my hiding place to the mages. I gave them a good idea of what I looked like. I now need to travel far away from them all, to get you to somewhere safe. Because of fear, I have lost our safe place.”  
  
“You would never fail, Enkidu.” Hakuno pressed her face to the being again. “I love you.”  
  
Another soft laugh. She could feel those comforting arms around her.  
  
“I can fail just as you can fail. It will be okay though. Together we will fix whatever we fail.”  
  
“I don’t know if we can fix what I did,” Hakuno murmured.  
  
“I will fix anything,” Enkidu replied. “Trust me.”  
  
She did.  
  
Enkidu could fix anything.


	10. Two of a Kind

For a while, it was like this.  
  
She would curl up in the being’s arms at night, listening to the sounds of rain outside their handmade shelter. Sometimes the being would sing to her. Soft tunes. They were songs that seemed to roll off the tongue and soothe some of the ache in her being. Sometimes, when the rain was coming down hard, the being would simply hold her close, rubbing her arms and kissing her forehead and cheeks.  
  
But she never used her magic.  
  
When the need to use the power that flowed through her veins became too great, she’d pour it into the servant. All of it, until she was tired and needed to rest.  
  
During the night, they would take apart the shelter and pile the pieces on a blanket the being had with them. They’d wander through the woods, going further and further into the world.  
  
Life was easier.  
  
There were no humans in this world around them. The calls of the birds and the swaying of the trees were all that accompanied them both.  
  
And that was fine.  
  
Hakuno held onto Enkidu’s hand the whole way, marveling at such an amazing being. Their hands were so soft, so strong. They could break apart the world and at the same time stroke her cheeks and hold her close and softly. They could carry the mountains, yet never seem to tire.  
  
There was no doubt in her mind that Enkidu was without parallel.  
  
If Gilgamesh had truly been strong, then he wouldn’t have felt the need to have the mages help them. He would have met with Enkidu and decided that they could take on the world.  
  
That name hurt to think about.  
  
“Hakuno?”  
  
Those green eyes looked back at her again.  
  
“Hakuno, are you alright? Do we need to stop so you can rest again?”  
  
“I’m just sad again, Enki.”  
  
“Sad again? While with me?” The being laughed, pulling her into their arms and pressing their face to hers. It was their thing, she had imagined. Only they would press their cheeks to one another and simply take in one another’s presence. Only they had this need for contact and for realizing they were alive and real and that everything around them was truly happening.  
  
“I didn’t mean to get sad,” Hakuno murmured. “I just still feel guilty.”  
  
“Let’s do this again, shall we?” Enkidu leaned their head to her a little more. They settled down amongst the grass and brush, their hands going to her hands. They pressed her hands to the earth.  
  
“It’s earth,” Hakuno murmured.  
  
“It is. This planet is alive for you, Hakuno, and for me. We are alive and one with this earth. It will always be just under our feet, ready to take us to whatever city and whatever kingdom we wish to go to, but it knows that we need to earn that freedom. We need to do our part to put one foot in front of the other to reach those nice lands and those better people.”  
  
Hakuno nodded and Enkidu pressed their hands to the grass.  
  
“Grass.”  
  
“It grows just as you do. Every time you worry that you are not a human being, remember that you grow both on the outside and on the inside. Your body ages and moves in new ways just as the grass grows longer and begins to move in the direction of each new day’s wind.”  
  
Hakuno nodded.  
  
Those hands moved to her chest and theirs, feeling the heartbeat that lay beneath the surface.  
  
“Those are our hearts.”  
  
“Yes, they are, Hakuno.” Enkidu smiled a little, leaning closer to her. “Every time that you feel guilty, remember that your heart will always be connected to everyone you’ve met. Some may not appreciate the heart that’s in your chest. Some may wish they had never met you or you may never wish you had met them, but do not feel guilt. You will always change lives because lives are meant to be ever changing.”  
  
“You’ve told me that before.” They had said it so many times before. Every time she was sad, they touched her hands to different things. They would make her label it and would say something that warmed her inside. Sometimes they would catch an animal too, having her see new life or old life. There was just something comforting in the way they made her see things that were there and real. Such simple things.  
  
“Hakuno,” Enkidu murmured.  
  
“Hmm?”  
  
The being pressed their lips to her forehead again. “I love you.”  
  
She all but leaped into their arms at that. Once again, they used that strange phrase. Nothing could compare to that phrase. No gold or foods or people. Nothing compared at all to the sound of someone as gentle and powerful as Enkidu telling her that.  
  
Her face pressed against their chest. Her eyes closed.  
  
Please, she begged in her mind, please let this last.  
  
She didn’t want to ever hurt again. She wanted to roam in the woods with this being forever.  
  
Through rainstorms and mud, through sunshine and darkness; all she wanted was to be able to continue to move forward, to learn with Enkidu.  
  
Enkidu had been right. There was nothing they couldn’t fix.  
  
That morning, Enkidu led her to a mountainside, showing her a cave they had found when she had needed to rest. They curled up within its confines, Hakuno’s body resting once more in the being’s arms. She wrapped their blanket over them both, yawning loudly.  
  
“Tired?”  
  
“Mhmm.” She nodded, looking over her head at the being.  
  
“Do you want me to sing to you tonight?”  
  
“Maybe you could tell me another story instead?” Hakuno looked up at the being. “I like your stories, Enkidu.”  
  
“I know you do.” Enkidu laughed a little, shaking their head. “Let’s start with a good one. Maybe the tales of the Sumerian gods?”  
  
“Gilgamesh.”  
  
“You hear about that man every night.” Enkidu laughed. “Smitten little master, I’ve got. You would lose your little mind if you ever met him. He’s a lady killer.”  
  
“A what?”  
  
“He is very good at making women fall in love with him. It’s the looks and the voice, I think.” Enkidu shrugged. “He has a good smile as well, if you earn one from him, but those are rare. It’s more often that he is seen at a distance and people assume.”  
  
“Is he not a wonderful person?”  
  
“He’s… Hmm. I think he’s wonderful, but he is like the wild animals I’ve shown you. If you simply run up to them and don’t pay any attention to their needs, they will hurt you. And Gilgamesh has hurt many. He did not care about any other feelings other than his own at times.”  
  
“That’s okay. He’s a king. King need to protect what’s theirs.”  
  
“Oh? And who told you that?” Enkidu narrowed their gaze a bit before nodding. “You’re right though. They do. Sometimes he was cruel because he had to be.”  
  
Hakuno snuggled closer to the being, closing her eyes as the sounds of Enkidu’s voice went on.  
  
In her mind’s eye, she could see Golden Hair as she had called him. Her personal king and god, with hair that gleamed like the mighty sunshine and eyes that ran thick and dark crimson like the blood of the bad people. She could feel his heartbeat against her cheek.  
  
But she wanted how things were before.  
  
Selfishly, she didn’t want to wish to be well again. She didn’t deserve it. Forgiveness was for those that could control what they had done.  
  
She wanted Enkidu and Gilgamesh to meet. She wanted to help fix Gilgamesh’s memories back into place and to save him from any pain he might have gone through because of her. Holding Enkidu tighter, she could almost see the happiness that would come to the two’s faces if she brought them together.  
  
She wanted to cause that.  
  
She wanted to sit there and let the two fight and laugh and-  
  
“Hakuno.”  
  
Hakuno opened her eyes, looking up at the being holding her. Their hands were moving through her hair, their lips pressing to her forehead.  
  
“Do you not want to hear about the diplomats from Nippur?”  
  
“I do. I just… I was thinking about how Gilgamesh looked again.”  
  
“Ah. I see.” The being frowned a little more though. “He may have been a lady killer, my little magician, but he was a good man and he is a good half god. He is the only god that is worth their keep. If you wish to talk to him, you could always try praying. I do the same when I am worried.”  
  
“Praying?”  
  
Once more, Enkidu pulled her hands into his, stopping the slight tremble in her hands as they pressed them together. They leaned in closer. “Close your eyes.”  
  
She shut her eyes without hesitation.  
  
“Now you simply speak to them in your head. Imagine you have him close enough that you don’t need to raise your voice or anything. He’s listening, if you try hard enough.”  
  
_I’m sorry,_ Hakuno thought into the universe, to the golden king. _I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Enkidu completely. I’m sorry that I messed up doing the magic you requested. I’m sorry I didn’t make you smile or laugh enough. I wish I could try again. Or maybe that Enkidu could have come to me. I should have been much stronger. Next time we meet, I want to be strong enough to never back down. I want to stand proudly at your side and do whatever it takes to make you happy with me._  
  
Enkidu’s embrace was an unending comfort as she felt them also wipe at her face.  
  
_I’m going to help protect Enkidu. Please wait for us to return._  
  
Enkidu pulled the blanket over them more and Hakuno looked over her shoulder at the being. “Do I need to do anything else in order to send my praying to him?”  
  
“No, that’s it. It feels good to talk to us both, doesn’t it?”  
  
She nodded.  
  
It did feel good. Maybe, hopefully, the king had heard her and would understand that whatever bad feelings he had from what she had done were not intended. Maybe he would be as wise as Enkidu had described and would be patient about waiting for them.  
  
“You look happier.”  
  
“I do?”  
  
Enkidu beamed. “You’ve been looking upset for days. I wasn’t sure what would reach you this time, but I’m glad once again that my friend can help you as well. Truly, we are too much alike in some ways, Hakuno.”  
  
“You’re perfect, Enkidu.”  
  
“Do you think so?” The being smiled that strange smile of theirs, leaning back against the wall and looking out towards the impending bad weather. “I don’t know about that, but you are quite a prize yourself, my little mage. Do not ever doubt that. I am truly happy with the grail’s choice of masters for me. I could ask for nothing better.”  
  
The smile was contagious. She couldn’t help the feeling of her lips moving and her eyes opening a little more. As she looked up at the being, the only thing she wanted to do was exactly what she did. Her arms wrapped around their shoulders and she held them close.  
  
“I would not thank me so greatly, Hakuno,” Enkidu murmured, despite hugging her tightly as well. “We still have a long ways to go and I will need to find a way to smuggle you out of these lands. I do not trust the people in this land. I fear not seeing someone about your illness may come back to haunt us as well.”  
  
“I don’t want to see a doctor.”  
  
“I know.” Enkidu nodded. “I won’t make you see a doctor. They are untrustable in this time. What you need is an Asipu. Hopefully I can locate one for you.”  
  
“An asipu?”  
  
“They are like doctors, but they treat people with magic. I have seen them hard at work within Uruk in my time. They worked closely with Asu, those are doctors, but when the Asu could not treat patients, they called in Asipu.”  
  
“Would they be able to help me be well again?”  
  
“I don’t know, but I don’t think you are sick. You have not shown any forgetfulness in our time together. Truly, had I found you outside of the hospital, I never would have considered you ill. Perhaps something in the hospital was making you sick to begin with. You didn’t know the outside world when we were at the church.”  
  
“I may not have been sick?”  
  
Enkidu shrugged. “Time will tell, but in case we need someone, I want to find an Asipu in a foreign land far away from here.”  
  
“Do you think an asipu will hurt me?”  
  
“No, I won’t let them.”  
  
Hakuno closed her eyes, once more relaxing as the being tugged the blanket around her again. They tssked at having to fix the blanket into place again, murmuring about wiggle butts.  
  
Outside, rain soon sounded, pattering down across the land as the sun tried in vain to come out. A slight chill had come over the cave, bringing the blanket around her body more tightly as the being tried to warm her more.  
  
The rain was so quiet. It was so nice.  
  
Soon enough, she found the being moving to have them both lay down properly on the floor. Their arms wrapped around her, pulling her closer and making her finally try to sleep. She could hear the odd whistling tone of the being’s voice.  
  
They had the voice of a god. She wasn’t sure how a being such as Enkidu could possibly exist.  
  
Truly, the gods had mistakenly created something that was perfect. With Enkidu, one could only look to the future, seeing the hopes and dreams come forth from nothing.  
  
Before the being had come, there had been nothing. Darkness and numbness. There had been a silence that had been in the world around her and in her bones, leaving her cold and lonely. She hadn’t realized how lonely she had been until the world had bloomed forth before her. All she had been able to do was just wait.  
  
Death could have visited, but even it would have decided itself that she wasn’t worth anything.  
  
Only Enkidu had come to her aid.  
  
The great clay being without flaw had come forth in a hail of bloodshed and suffering, reaching out their hand to her and accepting her. She had taken a chance and now there was everything. Trees, skies, birds, animals, life, pain, love; so many different things now had come forth around her. Things hurt. Things made her smile.  
  
“Enkidu.”  
  
The being yawned a little, looking over at her.  
  
“I love you.”  
  
Enkidu grinned, leaning in close. “I know you do. I love you too, my little mage. Don’t worry about the future for now. Leave everything to your servant. I will find us a way to freedom and then for you to grow up to be the most powerful and wonderful of beings. When you grow up, I’ll even tell you about temple maidens.”  
  
“Did you cuddle maidens?”  
  
“I did.” Enkidu grinned more, tucking the blanket in around her a little. “I cuddled with them every night. They were silly things. Sometimes we did other activities though and one day soon you’ll be old enough that I can tell you about them.”  
  
“You won’t leave me or hate me, right Enkidu?”  
  
“Hmm?”  
  
“Later, if I grow older, you won’t leave right?”  
  
“No matter what happens, Hakuno, I’ll be right here.”  
  
“Promise?”  
  
“I swear it.” Enkidu closed their eyes and curled up against her, blocking her from the cold and the outside world. “Get some rest. I sense we’re getting close to the other side of this land. We can cross the waters to greater lands and find your asipu soon.”


	11. Fire Flower

There were lights.  
  
Lots of them. They floated through the darkness as Hakuno woke up. Her eyes traced after them, watching them drift through the trees. It was like watching the stars drifting towards the earth. The rain had stopped. The mist that was around was light, almost nonexistent.  
  
“Enki!”  
  
Enkidu stirred, moving to sit up. Those eyes drifted over to her. “What is it?”  
  
“Look at the stars!”  
  
The being chuckled, moving over to her side to look up towards the skies. Yet, their eyes went to the lights she was talking about. Their face fell, their arms wrapping around her body.  
  
What was wrong with him? Did he not like the stars?  
  
That couldn’t be right though. The being had been all too eager to talk about the stars with her. They had pointed out the different constellations that had led merchants to Uruk and had led the king of Uruk to countless battles and victories.  
  
“Hakuno, we need to move.”  
  
“What?”  
  
The being was pulling her into his arms, antlers growing on their head as they began to head out of the cave. The lights were coming closer, but they weren’t attached to anything.  
  
That was a bit strange, wasn’t it?  
  
“Enki,” Hakuno murmured quietly to the being as they ran in the opposite direction of the lights. “Enki, what are those things?”  
  
Their head turned slightly, looking back before they quickened their pace.  
  
The brush and branches cracked around them as Enkidu picked up speed. They were going so fast. Hakuno wrapped her arms around their neck tightly and held on. She could have walked if they had mentioned that they wanted to leave. Why were they going this fast? What were the lights?  
  
A shadow appeared to their left.  
  
“Enki!”  
  
They followed her finger, the snarl ripping forth from their throat.  
  
They lunged, leaving her to cling tightly. She could feel something spill forth, getting onto her and Enkidu. She could hear something screaming, but the sound was cut off. Something slick hit the ground with a loud thump and the lights drew closer.  
  
They were just lights. They looked like the stars above in that they weren’t attached to anything. They were almost painted into the air.  
  
Enkidu was running though, their pace picking up once again. She pointed to another shadow.  
  
Yet another shadow screamed into the night.  
  
She could see blue splotches appearing on the being she was holding. She could feel the mana leaving her body as it went to Enkidu. All that magic was flowing into the being as they ran for it.  
  
The lights were bringing the shadows in.  
  
“Enki!”  
  
A figure stood atop a hill ahead of them. Illuminated in the weak moonlight, she could see their hair moving in the wind. Their clothes moved slightly in the breeze.  
  
Enkidu pulled her into their arms and she felt something moving around her body. She pressed a hand to the hard surface.  
  
Clay.  
  
She was being pulled into the being’s body a bit as they looked towards the figure ahead of them. Their face was disappearing though, the splotches were growing across their features. She could feel herself going higher into the air. She could sense the animals and woods becoming quieter as the clay servant changed.  
  
“Enki?”  
  
Hakuno looked back towards the figure, watching them move closer.  
  
The lights drifted around them, circling as the figure came into the light.  
  
The cigarette dropped from their mouth, going underneath their shoe as they looked towards the two of them. She could hear the growl coming from the beast holding her.  
  
Smoking man.  
  
Their glasses were taken off. Their brows furrowing.  
  
“Whatever golem this is, you need to recall it, child. Put your beast down and return with me.”  
  
“Enki,” Hakuno murmured, hiding deeper into the clay that was around her. She welcomed it closer to her person, letting the area around them fill with all the magic that Enkidu could ever want.  
  
She wasn’t going back.  
  
If nothing else, there was that in mind.  
  
She’d rather die here and now than go back to that bad place. She’d rather repay the wrongs she had done to Gilgamesh here and now by dying than have to go be tortured in that hospital.  
  
The man sighed before her.  
  
Electricity rippled from their hands.  
  
And then there was motion.  
  
She could feel Enkidu fighting sideways, keeping her away from the battle. Their claws tore at the man’s person, knocking them back. They roared at the feeling of that electricity, but it wouldn’t get far. The power never reached her. It never harmed her.  
  
“Damn you.”  
  
More light illuminated the area around them. Fire blazed on all sides, circling them until there was no escape.  
  
“Stand down and return with me! Your parents want you back!”  
  
“Don’t let them take me,” Hakuno murmured to Enkidu. “Please, Enki. You’re my family.”  
  
Another roar came forth, shaking the trees and the earth. Birds fleed from the area. Animals scuffling and running could be heard as everything hidden around them fled the scene. The mage stood his ground though, keeping the fire going around them.  
  
Once again, they lunged forward. Hakuno looked at the man and closed her eyes.  
  
That electricity.  
  
She wanted that.  
  
A crackling came to her hands.  
  
She had said she wouldn’t use magic again, but…  
  
Enkidu made a pained sound as the Smoking Man got too close. The fire burned at Enkidu’s shoulder. Hakuno gasped at the warmth, delving a little more into their chest as she tired to wait out the moment she would be close enough.  
  
She could feel the energy in her hands. She could feel what she would do next.  
  
The Smoking Man got close again and she pressed a hand to their face, earning a shriek of pain from the bad man. She didn’t let go, dragging him with them and letting Enkidu have the chance to hurt him. The being’s arm swept at the Smoking Man’s legs, cracking both of them loudly.  
  
The mage fell back, gasping as he looked up at them.  
  
Enkidu’s clawed hand wrapped around hers, pressing them to her chest and away from the fighting.  
  
“Enki… Enki, I don’t want this man to hurt you!” Hakuno looked up at them.  
  
“Enki…” The Smoking Man stood up, “Sumerian. God of creation… that explains the strange body… You summoned a god, child? To this world?”  
  
Enkidu’s roar filled the night again. The Smoking Man poured more of his magic into his legs, using them to run. The fire broke as he rushed towards it.  
  
Once again, they were moving through the forest. She could feel the cold wind hitting her face as they gave chase to the magic powered man.  
  
They would kill him.  
  
Ice slammed into Enkidu’s side, making her stumble from their chest. She rolled over, looking up to find the beast whimpering. Their face turned to the shadows.  
  
Hakuno could feel something coming close.  
  
She prepared her hands like the Smoking Man had, waiting until the thing grew close. A shadow reached over her shoulder.  
Without hesitation, she rolled back, pressing her hands to the shadow’s body. The scream that escaped them was only momentary, followed with the sound of Enkidu’s claws ripping their body apart. She hurried back to them as she felt something spray against her person again. Her arms were around the being and she was climbing back into their arms. Their clay chest welcomed her back in and she wrapped a hand around her wrist.  
  
The bracelet was gone.  
  
The gift from Gilgamesh…  
  
Hakuno looked around, but there were more shadows coming.  
  
There were so many shadows coming towards them.  
  
“We have to leave…” Hakuno looked up at the being. “Enki, we need to get out of here…”  
  
They turned again, running into the darkness. She could hear the sounds of trees falling and destruction happening behind them. She could see lights over the being’s shoulders, but she pressed her face to the being’s body.  
  
If they weren’t seen, maybe they’d go away. Maybe Enkidu and her would outrun them all.  
  
She hoped that was the case.  
  
Another something hit Enkidu’s body. Hakuno pressed her face to their chest as they gave a pained noise.  
  
“I love you, Enki. I won’t let you be hurt. Please… Please take what you need from me. Please be okay…” She needed them to be okay. She needed them to be protected as they protected her.  
  
A hand reached out from the darkness, grabbing at her.  
  
She could feel Enkidu rip the hand from her person, throwing the shadowed figure towards a tree. She could see their body bend in the opposite way a body bent. The sound of a loud snap was the only clue she had that the figure would never touch her again.  
  
More shadows.  
  
She hated the stars.  
  
Gilgamesh, she thought in vain. If only Gilgamesh was here. The world’s strongest king would be able to stop these mages. He had been able to stop anything.  
  
“DO NOT HARM THE GIRL!” The Smoking Man’s voice cried out into the darkness. “WE NEED HER ALIVE! IF ANYONE HARMS HER, I’LL MAKE YOU PERSONALLY PAY!”  
  
“Hakuno!” Another voice called.  
  
“Hakuno!”  
  
They were calling her name. They knew who she was…  
  
Hakuno pressed herself closer to Enkidu, barreling through more trees. They were starting to climb up the mountainside, into open ground but towards higher levels. She could see the shadows now. They were all following after them. They were like tails on their backends that wouldn’t go away.  
  
More power drained from her, going to the beast as they climbed higher. They were heading further and further away.  
  
Maybe they’d escape.  
  
Hakuno closed her eyes again.  
  
If it meant that they would escape the bad people, then she would just have to give up Gilgamesh’s gift. She would go back to him and start over. She could always make new memories. She had done that with Enkidu, learning about the outside world. She’d do that with Gilgamesh, telling him who she was and who Enkidu was. She would find out what she’d done wrong and fix it. Enkidu would help her.  
  
Enkidu fell back as light came from in front of them. Hakuno listened to the being screech into the darkness as a shadow moved into view.  
  
“A mana seeing beast…” The figure moved into view, still unable to be fully seen. “Child of Merlin… What is it that you’ve made with those hands of yours?”  
  
Hakuno lowered further into Enkidu’s person, eyes closing again.  
  
More magic.  
  
They just needed more magic.  
  
She needed to do more for Enkidu. These thoughts and feelings of hers were too selfish. Enkidu was doing all this work and she was merely hiding in their body, waiting out all the pain and the violence. It was her turn to help with the battles.  
  
It seemed like, whatever the mage had done, it had stunned Enkidu. Hakuno leaned out of their chest a little more, her eyes closing.  
  
Flowers bloomed over the area. Dozens, no- thousands of blooms. The petals drifted through the air. The smell filled the world around them. Enkidu deserved something good and wonderful. They deserved to have a master that could fight with them. She wanted to be someone that could be just as strong as them and Gilgamesh. She wanted to be powerful.  
  
She had all this magic. She could do one more magic spell.  
  
The blossoms crackled.  
  
The mage in front of her flailed as the blooms came at them. They pushed and wiped at the flowers, but there were too many. All of them held that electric charge that she had seen the Smoking Man do before. All of them were set to harm whoever they touched.  
  
The beautiful blooms that had made Gilgamesh smile and had made Enkidu love her all that much more crackled with the promise of death.  
  
The screams that reached out into the night reached a peak as the blooms drifted over the land. The trees caught fire, the grass carried the flames from the trees across to more of the nature around them.  
  
She could feel herself being freed from the clay chest holding her.  
  
Looking over her shoulder, Hakuno could see Enkidu’s face returning. Their eyes drifted over her and the area around them.  
  
The world and those beautiful flowers, all the glorious world of joy and life was set ablaze, left to suffer and die around them. The sounds of the screaming mages left little else to the imagination. There was no doubt what was going on.  
  
“…I never want to do magic again,” Hakuno told them. She looked up at that perfect face. The strong and powerful servant of hers. She could see the pain in their eyes at watching the world being burned down. They loved the world being green and alive. They hated the death around them.  
  
“Hakuno…”  
  
“…I… I’m sorry,” she whimpered. Her body pressed against the clay being’s. Her face pressed to the robes that reappeared on their person.  
  
“Hakuno, no…”  
  
Those arms wrapped around her, pulling her close and pressing their lips to her forehead.  
  
“We’re leaving,” they murmured. “We’re going to go somewhere far away. They’ll never find us. They’ll never be able to do anything other than mourn for their fallen comrades.”  
  
Gilgamesh had mentioned them leaving. He had said-  
  
“Enkidu…”  
  
“Hmm?”  
  
Hakuno pulled back. “We need to fake my death.”  
  
The being stared at her.  
  
She needed to make a fake her. Flesh and blood, plain and dull. She needed to make a body that could burn in the fire around them. They could find that body and think she died. Then she and Enkidu could get away. No one would look for them if she managed this.  
  
“Are you sure?”  
  
Hakuno nodded.  
  
There was no other choice.  
  
Her eyes closed again as she pressed her hands to the ground before her. Her hands rose slowly, her mind focused on what they needed to do. Her plain, boring body needed to be duplicated. She needed one that just was like her. It didn’t need to be perfect.  
  
The lifeless her lay before them, she shoved it down the mountainside, the same way the mage from before had gone. A few of her flowers landed on her fake self. She pushed more mana forth, letting the blooms burst into flames.  
  
The fire rose quickly.  
  
“I don’t want to watch this,” Enkidu murmured. “Let’s leave quickly, before someone finds us.”  
  
Hakuno nodded, letting herself be lifted up into the being’s arms. Her eyes drifted back to the world behind them.  
  
Death.  
  
Perhaps she was not meant to live.  
  
All she seemed to do was cause suffering. Whether it was the great king or the mages that came after them; death and pain seemed to chase them down. The fires blazed boldly against the night skies. Looking up, Hakuno could see the stars mocking them.  
  
The gods must have been watching, since they seemed to have nothing better to do.  
  
Her face pressed against Enkidu’s shoulder, eyes closing once more as she focused on the sound of that heart beating against her ear. Such a proud and lively sound. It beat with a quick pace, making her own beat in time to it.  
  
“Just channel that energy into me,” Enkidu murmured to her as they ran into the night. “Any time we reach a fight, just give me the power I need to fight them off. I do not want you to see any more death than you have already. You are my pure and wonderful friend, Hakuno. You do not deserve to feel the guilt that comes with taking life. Let me take that sin with me to the grail. You will go to Ereshkigal in the underworld when you die of old age and Ereshkigal will find no flaws with you. She will praise you because you are as close to a goddess as a little human can be.”  
  
She wasn’t…  
  
Deep down, she knew the goddess of the underworld would see the truth.  
  
She had done too much wrong.  
  
But she nodded, promising to give them all the power and let them do the fighting.  
  
If it made the being happy, then she would listen.  
  
The world soon had sound again as they ran. The sound of crackling wood and smell of corpses was going away. Now there were chirps and hoots in the world around them. She could sense eyes, but the eyes of indifferent creatures watching them.  
  
Hakuno let the sounds lull her back into the feeling of comfort. Enkidu’s free hand was rubbing at her back as they slowed.  
  
Ahead of them, Hakuno could see water. A city lay not too far from them.  
  
“We will have to hide as humans for a time,” the being murmured. “I will find us somewhere to rest and then tomorrow we will find a way to cross the water. I imagine it cannot be hard to acquire a boat from somewhere in this place.”  
  
“Will it be safe?” Hakuno looked up at the being, frowning.  
  
Their lips pressed to her nose. “As safe as we can be. The woods are not an option. The mages will be looking for us still, if they don’t believe you are truly dead.”  
  
Then there was no other choice.  
  
“Rest,” Enkidu murmured. “You took care of most of our enemies. Let me do my part too.”  
  
“I love you, Enki.”  
  
“I love you too, Hakuno.”


	12. Memories Slipping Through Fingers

Hakuno opened her eyes slowly, taking in the gentle sway of the world around her and looking up at the strange being holding her. Her hand ran over their hair, stroking the silky locks and watching their eyes flutter slowly open. She could see those green eyes look down at her, recognition and adoration pouring into their gaze as they leaned in.  
  
“Hakuno, how are you feeling?”  
  
“Enki,” Hakuno leaned against them. “I’m doing alright. I feel really tired for some reason, but it might be because I just woke up. Where are we?”  
  
“We’re on a boat. I told you I would find us a boat to climb onto when we reached the city?”  
  
“Did we go into the city?” Hakuno looked around the room, taking in the large crates and the netting around the area. Her hands held onto Enkidu tightly. “…You won’t leave me here, right? I don’t like this place. The church was better. We should go back.”  
  
“The mages know about the church, Hakuno…” Enkidu frowned.  
  
“Mages? Like the doctors?”  
  
Enkidu nodded, their face taking on an odd expression. “…What do you remember?”  
  
She paused at the question, frowning as well.  
  
“I remember you cut my hair and showed me the church. We went outside and saw trees and birds yesterday. There was wood and glass windows. You told me stories, but they’re a bit foggy.” She must have forgotten a lot from that evening. That wasn’t good.  
  
“I need to take you to an asipu,” Enkidu murmured.  
  
“What’s an asipu?”  
  
Enkidu shook their head, pressing their lips to her cheek. “An asipu is a person who does all of the good things doctors are supposed to do and treats people right. They help people feel well again, rather than making them feel worse. You will like them. I promise. I will find one that can help with your memory loss.”  
  
“Did I forget a lot? I didn’t do anything bad, did I?”  
  
Enkidu’s eyes seemed so far from their words for once. They seemed different when they answered. “You have done nothing wrong, Hakuno. You only forgot a few days. There will be countless more to remember. Don’t worry.”  
  
There was something wrong with that though.  
  
Hakuno looked down at her hands, debating what to say.  
  
She had forgotten days.  
  
Days with Enkidu. Days of laughter and love. Days of happiness alongside the only wonderful person in the entire world. Days with family. How could Enkidu ever forgive her?  
  
She was truly a beast.  
  
“Hakuno?”  
  
There was a wetness running down her face as she looked up at them. She could see her vision blurring a little as she stared up at them.  
  
“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry, Enki…”  
  
“Don’t do that.” Enkidu bit their lip, pulling her closer and cooing softly. “Don’t make that face with me, my little magician.”  
  
The tears were coming in harder. She wasn’t sure why.  
  
“It’s okay, Hakuno. I still have all those good memories,” Enkidu told her, rubbing her back and kissing at her cheeks and nose. “They are all with me. I cherish them deeply. There is no reason to cry.”  
  
“But I don’t have them.” Hakuno shook her head. “You’re the most important person in my life and I forgot days of our time together. I just let them all slip away.”  
  
“Time steals memories from us all,” Enkidu replied, leaning in close and wiping at the tears under her eyes. “Don’t cry over some forgotten moments. You find me of value, despite my obvious flaws. I feel important and loved well enough by you, Hakuno. Let me enjoy having you with me and building new memories with me.”  
  
“How many more will I forget?”  
  
“I can’t answer that,” Enkidu murmured, that gaze turning away. “I will do whatever I need to in order to build that memory back up. You won’t forget soon enough. I will have that as my wish for the grail.”  
  
Hakuno nodded again.  
  
“Hakuno?”  
  
“Yes, Enki?”  
  
Enkidu smiled at her, making the tears stop. She felt them rub their nose against hers, squeezing their eyes shut. “I enjoy that nickname from you. It is cute and you are cute.”  
  
“What’s that mean?”  
  
“It’s where you are beautiful, but in a younger way. You are beautiful because you are young and do something that makes me feel happiness by being around you.”  
  
What a great word that was. She was cute. Leaning against the being again, Hakuno closed her eyes and let the swaying of the boat lull her back to sleep for a while. Above them, voices spoke to one another, shouts happened here and there.  
  
They could hear birds outside and the slapping of the waves against the sides of the boat.  
  
She still felt a bit bad about forgetting about the last couple of days. They must have been wonderful for a while, before the mages had come to the church. It had probably been scary. Maybe fear was the reason for her forgetfulness.  
  
Looking up at Enkidu, she wasn’t sure why she would have been too afraid. Enkidu could fight and kill anything. They had killed the doctor. They had gotten her out of the hospital. Truly, there was nothing and no one to fear with Enkidu nearby.  
  
The being sighed, letting their antlers grow quickly into fruition. She ran a finger along the length of them, frowning.  
  
“Enki?”  
  
Those pale eyes opened, looking at her.  
  
“Enki, you’re upset. What’s wrong?”  
  
“I am worried, little mage. It is nothing important. I am here to ensure that you get to experience and enjoy long lasting happiness. My own, in comparison, means nothing.”  
  
That wasn’t right.  
  
She pursed her lips, slapping both hands against their face. “Your happiness is important. I can’t be happy if you’re not happy.”  
  
“Hakuno-“  
  
“No.”  
  
They raised a brow at that.  
  
“I won’t be happy if you aren’t happy. If you try to make me happy otherwise, then I’ll just wish the grail to give you the happiness that you give me.”  
  
“Hakuno, that’s not a real wish, please be reasonable.”  
  
She crossed her arms, settling on their lap. Her glare was direct, unending as the being tried being unreasonable about this.  
  
And it was entirely unreasonable. Wanting her to be happy and refusing to think twice about their own happiness; she couldn’t think of anything more absurd. Enkidu deserved happiness. They deserved gold statues and flowers crowns and sheets so soft that they were slippery…  
  
Her glare faltered a little.  
  
Where had those nice ideas come from?  
  
She had never felt such sheets or been around statues and made flower crowns before. Yet she could picture doing those things and creating those things.  
  
“Hakuno?”  
  
“I had a weird thought, but it’s fine.”  
  
She would think about it later. For now, she just resumed scowling at Enkidu. “I want you to be happy too. Whatever it takes, I want you happy as well.”  
  
“What if making you happy makes me happy?”  
  
“Enki…”  
  
The being laughed, shaking their head a moment before they pulled her to their chest again. She could feel their body shifting slightly as they continued to chuckle.  
  
“It’s not funny.”  
  
“It is.” Enkidu shook their head, “but I will stop. I don’t want to draw attention to us. I mean what I say, Hakuno. Your happiness has come to mean a lot to me. I want to make sure that you are happy and that you are healthy. I have always loved unique individuals and you I love greatly. Seeing you smile and remember me without worry of forgetfulness will make every hardship and struggle that we go through worthwhile.”  
  
The boat rocked a bit harder, making the boxes shift around them. But Enkidu merely grabbed the nearby netting and held her close.  
  
“I love you, Enki.” Hakuno murmured. Her head pressed against their chest. “If it makes you happy, then okay. I just don’t want you to be sad. I don’t want you to hate me. Everyone hates me.”  
  
Enkidu’s body froze. Their grip of her tightening as they slowly climbed to their feet. A crackling sound was coming into the room as they moved.  
  
It was getting cold.  
  
She wasn’t sure why it was getting cold, but there was something happening to the warmth around them. Hakuno could feel her attention drift from the being holding her to the door, seeing the ice forming through crackling and magic. She could hear the person on the other side of the door pounding at the door, trying to get in.  
  
“Who is th-“  
  
Enkidu shushed her, moving to the other door and slipping them through. They hurried down the hall quietly, slipping into a room and Enkidu turning the lock. They looked around, frowning a moment before they hurried her over to the bed.  
  
“Hakuno, I need you to listen to me carefully.”  
  
“Okay.”  
  
“I need you to pretend to sleep. Calm your body and magic down so much that you feel none of it again. I know you can do it. I have felt it before. You just need to do it for a little while since the bad people are so close.”  
  
She nodded, lying back on the bed and sensing Enkidu’s body changing. She could see the antlers growing, their jaw breaking open passed the point of a normal human being.  
  
“Enkidu?”  
  
“They’re getting too close.” Enkidu’s face altered, changing. “Wait in here. I will return soon enough.” Their body seemed to flow through the doorway, shutting behind them as Hakuno sat up and wrapped the blankets around her body.  
  
Would they be okay?  
  
The strange sound that came from nearby made her jump. She could sense their presence close to where that growl had come from. There was a series of banging and cracks that came as she sat on that bed.  
  
The world could have gone and died while she waited. It could have been reborn again after that, growing to this point. It felt like eternity was coming along as she waited.  
  
She pressed her hands together for some reason, her eyes closing.  
  
_Please be okay, Enki._ She thought. _Please be okay…_  
  
Her power trickled through her thoughts, towards the human she loved to dearly. Enkidu deserved every bit of power they needed in order to keep the bad men away.


	13. Ice

They were invested in the safety and security of a child.  
  
An interesting thought that would have no doubt made his king laugh and tease them endlessly, but there was nothing they could do to deny that they were already loving the child in their own way. Trying to do the same things that Shamhat had done for them, they were finding little successes.  
  
They pressed their hands to the world, bringing the reality of it all into place as the goddess of a temple maiden had done for them.  
  
The child burned the very nature that she had blossomed forth.  
  
They tried to teach them the language and the common things of this time, to show her that the world was more than a black and white state of darkness and light, but she was so young. Her mind could not comprehend it all yet. She still saw them as nothing but light and the world as nothing but darkness. Her hands had held them so tightly as they had wandered the streets of Fuyuki.  
  
Enkidu had hoped, since she had managed that one communication with the strange Golden Hair person…  
  
The cracking and churning of their clay body was filling their ears as they moved through the halls of the ship. The mages were climbing onto the boat, no doubt sensing the little mage in his custody. They wanted to take her back. They wanted to fight.  
  
Well, fighting was something they knew how to do without any qualms.  
  
The first mage turned up to the left, roaring towards them with fire in hand. Their magecraft was about flames and ash.  
  
But they were made of clay and nothingness. Fire only hurt that which was alive.  
  
Their roar shook the ship, mana flowing to their body from where Hakuno lay in hiding. They could feel the body beneath their hands and they twisted it, violently.  
  
The screech that came was only for a split second. The color of red spreading throughout the small space as a puddle formed beneath their feet. More magecraft.  
  
Their body turned, roar going off again as they took to the others.  
  
Each and every one of them needed to end their life here.  
  
They all needed to die.  
  
Only with them gone could the little magician be free.  
  
_“There’s nothing wrong with killing.”_  
  
_Enkidu looked over at the maiden, after the hundredth time it seemed of lovemaking, their body was starting to resemble the maiden’s own. Her fingers were running along their skin as she traced the splotches of color._  
  
_“I can understand why you would want to kill the hunters. They hurt what was important to you. You have a great capability for empathy, creature of the woods. King Gilgamesh must have seen that in you and known that killing you would be the same as killing off humanity itself.”_  
  
_Their head pressed against her chest, earning a laugh as the maiden spoke to them._  
  
_She was always talking, looking up at them with those sweet eyes and gentle touches. There was nothing like this in the wilderness. There were no creatures that simply welcomed others in. She was… domesticated, humbled._  
  
_All these strange words she created for them both. There was nothing that appealed to them more than the idea of these words hers that she made so freely._  
  
_For animals of the wild, there was none of this._  
  
_“Please stay with me a little longer,” Shamhat’s sweet voice begged. “I don’t know anyone who has deserved and needed a temple maiden as much as you do now. Allow me to wash away the sins of ignorance and bring you to humankind, if only for a time.”_  
  
_Humankind had changed since the time of the ancient gods._  
  
There were no humans in this time that could handle the idea of humility and openness. There were no places in this land that could handle gentle souls and honeyed words. Their touch had become that of a snake, curling around a human until they were strangled and killed. Their tongues wagged in that silvered manner of theirs, deceiving and betraying.  
  
They didn’t want that for this child though.  
  
The young magician didn’t deserve to grow into a world of pain and suffering.  
  
There was nothing to the little thing but naivety and wonder. Those hands reached forth in the same open and happy manner that Shamhat’s nervous hands had. Those eyes looked upon even the most grotesque of forms, face widening to show those teeth and exuberance.  
  
To give the world to this child, to give the opportunity for growth and wonder…  
  
The world could be painted in the color of blood. Their body could be beaten and torn asunder. There was nothing to this old soul, nothing but strength and brute force that could be applied. Much like a gate, blocking out the darkness from the blooming world.  
  
They would provide the way for Hakuno.  
  
There was nothing else worth talking about.  
  
More mages were flooding the hallways around them as they ripped and tore through bodies. The cries and shouts of the ignorant souls of the people on the ship were echoing in their ears though. Each body they went through, they were reminded more of the fighting and the chaos of the wars.  
  
So many wars.  
  
Humans could not live in peace.  
  
They were selfish. They were arrogant.  
  
The further into the mangled bodies they walked, the more they saw the other side to those traits they had so loved in their king.  
  
With Gilgamesh, there had been so blame to pass for his arrogance and selfish nature. They had been wise about how they acted and they had been honest. There was no opportunity for the powers that had been given to him to be used in such heinous manners. When they had wandered to the fields of war, it had been only due to necessity.  
  
These mages knew nothing of necessity. They hungered and they stole. They claimed things for their own for no other reason than they could and they would. Enkidu found them all to be an eyesore.  
  
Their body shook from the pure audacity of their attempts to claim the child.  
  
They were no better than Ishtar.  
  
_“Enkidu,” Shamhat’s hand held theirs so tightly, those eyes looking up at their own. They could see the worry, the doubt. As though she did not see what was so apparent to their eyes. Perhaps humans were incapable of seeing beneath the skin. Perhaps humans, in all their beauty and wonder, could not see what they could see so easily._  
  
_The king motioned them into the ziggurat and Enkidu followed, bringing their temple maiden by the hand. The woman moved at his side so slowly!_  
  
_“Enkidu, I don’t think I belong here…” Shamhat leaned in closer to them, her face pressing to their sleeve. “The king-“_  
  
_“Gilgamesh will see what I see,” Enkidu promised. “He brought you to me, did he not? He knows you are of worth and he wants to reward you for being so helpful to me.”_  
  
_“Do you think so?”_  
  
Those eyes and that nervous look had been so much like Hakuno. She had held him in fear and held him as though there was nothing else in this world that would protect her like they would. Enkidu had found their doubts and worries flying off into the distance at the feeling of those hands holding them. Like with Hakuno, they had held those gentle hands in their own and led the woman towards the palace. They had pressed their lips to her cheek and presented her so proudly to the king.  
  
And the king, in all his wisdom and youthful charm, had been enamored as well. He had welcomed her in and allowed her to remain until she had become longing for the world of the temple maidens once again. Her calling had taken her from their arms. That tender heart had needed to be shared with the world.  
  
And they could not blame her. They would not be selfish, since they had found the king’s own heart to be worthy of his attentions and careful attentions.  
  
Something cold hit their shoulder as they ripped through another hallway’s worth of mages. Pain lanced through their being, the clay of their body being altered. They could not change their body well with the icy touch of that magecraft. They could not fight when their body was unable to expand and contract.  
  
A sound escaped their lips. The mages must have understood.  
  
A thousand eyes of deception were turned their way. The temperature of the ship was going down.  
  
They were over the water. There wasn’t a chance to escape at this time. Whatever happened, they needed to ensure that Hakuno could get to safety. They needed to last long enough to reach the other side of the water. They needed to run but they needed to just last long enough that they could run.  
  
More ice.  
  
Their body was shaking. The taste of copper was coming to their mouth as they felt their knees hit the floor of the ship. More and more ice.  
  
There was so much cold.  
  
They looked up, finding one of the mages at the end of the hall holding the little magician in their arms.  
  
She was passed out, a tube sticking out of her arm as a bag of some fluid lay on her chest.  
  
“I don’t know what kind of golem the child has made,” the mage told the others. “But the mage from London thinks they’re both dead. The Mages Association will think the same. Take care of this thing and call me when things are done. I’m going to move the child to one of the quieter facilities.”  
  
They tried to move. They had to reach Hakuno.  
  
Their chains lashed out, wrapping around the mage holding Hakuno.  
  
Something covered more of their body though.  
  
Enkidu felt their eyes close, the chill of the place sinking in.  
  
Failure.  
  
The feeling sank in like the freeze. They could feel the chains being pulled loose from the mage, more ice blocking them from doing anything.  
  
Elementally, they had been stopped.  
  
Their body was moved, ripped and torn piece by piece by the mages. They carried it to the top of the ship, to the edge of the boat and let it fall. They didn’t release it in large piles, but in small portions. They dumped each and every part into the water, letting them feel the icy waters meet their body.  
  
It was so cold…  
  
So damn cold…  
  
_“You’re always cold,” the king laughed, holding them closer in bed as the cooler air wafted in from the windows. “Cling to me then, my clay friend. I will keep you warm. You will never know coldness with me at your side.”_  
  
Forgive me, Hakuno, Enkidu prayed. Forgive me, Gilgamesh.  
  
He was a friend to no one.  
  
Because they could not even protect a child.


	14. Greatest Pain

The pain was so great.  
  
That was the first thing she noticed when she awakened in the room. Pain throughout her being. Vicious vengeance against her breathing. The world itself felt like it was fighting against her every breath. It fought against her daring to open her eyes.  
  
And the ceiling had nothing.  
  
There were no signs of life. No warmth from the sun hit this room. No high ceilings or smooth ceilings or canopies were above her. Instead of any of that, there was strange rectangles with holes in them. The same materials as before. Everything felt so cold around her. Her body felt numb wherever the pain was not ravaging her.  
  
Cold and pain.  
  
She closed her eyes again, willing her mana to help.  
  
There was no need to stay in this place. Enkidu needed her. She had to be sure to escape long enough to find…  
  
Who was she supposed to find?  
  
Her mind hurt.  
  
Why was her vision blurring?  
  
A figure moved over her, staring down in a tired manner. She knew that face from somewhere. Where did she know that face from? Who was this person?  
  
“You were asleep for a long time,” the woman told her. There were lines on that face, her lips were so lowered they held the danger of simply slipping to the floor. “Do you know what you did? What you threatened to do with your leaving like you did? Do you think to make a mockery of the name Kishinami? Of me?”  
  
Trying to speak was too difficult. She didn’t bother.  
  
Whoever this woman was, she didn’t seem to be very important.  
  
Maybe she was. She seemed so upset.  
  
No, only Enkidu was important.  
  
“Well? Nothing? After depleting all of our funds like you did? After making us beg the main nobles for finding you? For almost making us admit to having something we were not supposed to have to begin with? Do you know how upset they would have been to find out that we had been holding the remains of the great magician Merlin’s mana circuits all this time?”  
  
Hakuno closed her eyes.  
  
“Hakuno, you open your eyes and speak to me. Do you know how much reparations are needed to smooth over the situation with the other mage families because of you? You’re lucky they all believe you dead.”  
  
She didn’t bother to look; didn’t bother to respond. The woman was rude. She was cruel. Her words felt like the pain running through her body.  
  
“You won’t be using that mana of yours again,” the woman murmured. “If you are thinking you are going to see the sunlight again, think again. Whatever secrets you are holding, the new doctor will find out.”  
  
“Madam Kishinami,” another voice purred. “Please come with us.”  
  
The woman turned.  
  
Mother.  
  
That was who that was. It was her mother.  
  
Hakuno opened her eyes, watching that brown hair flutter around her as she turned away and headed for the door. She could see the door close. She could feel the wind of that closing door hit her, sending her nerve endings into alarm. Shock, unfiltered, unparalleled agony, ran through her body. Her vision swam, turning to white for a moment as she tried to breathe.  
  
It was so hard to breathe in this place.  
  
Why did it hurt to breathe?  
  
Where was Enkidu?  
  
She opened her mouth, opened it to speak, but the words wouldn’t come.  
  
She lifted her head.  
  
Her body was stitched together. Lines ran over her arms and her torso, like she had been opened like some kind of package and looked inside of. Someone had looking into her person. They had looked at what had lay beneath her skin.  
  
Her head moved back, eyes going to the ceiling again.  
  
Her vision was swimming again.  
  
Where was Enkidu?  
  
Where was her friend?  
  
Why did it hurt to even try to speak?  
  
Hakuno stared up at the lights, trying to figure out what was happening.  
  
She called their name so many times in her head.  
  
Were they close?  
  
Were they in pain too?  
  
Were they going to break their way into this place and come rescue her?  
  
She could imagine it so easily. The green haired being would slam through the doors on the other side of the room, throwing the world around her into chaos. The machines that were taking note of her person would be pulled away from her, these wires along her body would be yanked off. She would see the signs of true life flashing in those bright green eyes as they would free her.  
  
It would make her heart sing, seeing the being upset on her behalf, seeing them wanting to free her from the depths of this nightmare.  
  
She would be pulled into those warm arms, her head resting against their chest.  
  
They would murmur to her so softly. They loved her. They cared for her.  
  
They would promise away the pain, promise away the fear that composed such a song in her body.  
  
The world would return to color and life. It would have meaning once again.  
  
Doctors, nurses, her family; they’d all be killed so that they’d be free. Her body would rest within the being’s as they slammed through the walls of the building.  
  
Further into the wilderness they would go. She would see what the outside world had. More than the walls of the cave they had been in.  
  
She couldn’t remember too much else. The cold cave they had hidden away within. The pain that had been so strong in her body. It must have been regret or something that had been in her person. It must have been fear.  
  
She couldn’t fear the dead.  
  
This time, when the being helped her be free, they’d run far into the distance. They’d go to where the rectangle’s light traveled to from her other room. They’d see the sunrises and the sunsets.  
  
“How’s she doing?”  
  
A voice spoke up as two people entered. Hakuno looked down, feeling her mouth opened and a tube being shoved in.  
  
“She’s squirming. It seems her circuits have opened wide. They’re as fused as if they were supposed to be there. If I hadn’t read her file before it had disappeared, I would have thought they were naturally hers.”  
  
The other man, dressed in a white coat, shook his head. “We’ll need to keep an eye on them. The circuits could cause a lot of damage if she is allowed to use them. If her mother had not tempted her to know what it felt like to use mana, then we would never have had this problem to begin with.”  
  
What?  
  
“Do you think we should worry about her creating monsters again?”  
  
“I am tempted to see what they look like, since the others described it as a great clay being, but no. we will keep her mana circuits blocked and simply keep a close eye on what she is doing at all times. I want nurses rotating through the room on an hourly to bihourly rate. Don’t feed her too much either.”  
  
Blocked?  
  
They were going to block the feeling of happiness from her?  
  
Hakuno felt herself moving now. She needed to be free of these things holding her down. She needed to tell them to stop. She knew their words. She could speak her mind. There was nothing doll-like about her body. She had a mind and a heart. She loved and she was loved. It was not a monster that she had, but a servant with thoughts and feelings of their own.  
  
The tube was in the way. The person with the doctor was pushing it back into place, blocking her from being able to speak.  
  
The doctor leaned over her, frowning more.  
  
“You need to stop, Hakuno. You have already caused your family great pain. The Mages Association thinks that you are dead, but we are not fully within the association. If they find you, you will return to the other place.”  
  
“En-“ She tried to say the being’s name, to say that they would be coming for her. “Enk-“ The tube was pushed in harder. She was tasting something strange and metal like in her mouth.  
  
“Are you trying to speak of your golem?” The doctor asked.  
  
She nodded. They weren’t a golem, but-  
  
“They are dead.”  
  
Dead?  
  
The cold feeling in her body must have shown on her face. The doctor was nodding as he looked at the machines and told the nurse to take down notes on her vitals. Those dull eyes of the doctor’s went back to hers.  
  
“Your golem was holding you away from us all. They were actually quite bothersome. The mages found that it was weak to ice and simply broke it apart into small pieces. We dumped it’s fragments into the ocean. You won’t be worrying about them any further. It is you and I now, Hakuno. If you are a good girl, we will allow you to eat soft foods in a few years. In the meantime, you will be tube fed and remaining on bedrest.”  
  
Hakuno tried to shake her head, but the man was running a hand through her hair.  
  
“How you learned to speak and do all the things a normal human can do… It’s so strange. I can only imagine that you allowed yourself to build a human like golem to teach you. The amazing power of mana continues to be astounding. I have half a mind to offer you for part of the next grail. What power you would give a mage…” The man closed his eyes before turning.  
  
Enkidu was dead?  
  
Hakuno closed her eyes, feeling the wetness on her face.  
  
Why was she alive when her friend was dead? Why was she permitted to live on in this state? She didn’t want to try to think of anything. She didn’t want to think anymore. Let all the memories fade into nothingness. Let her mind die so she could meet them in the next life.  
  
She didn’t want to go back to not being human again.  
  
She didn’t want to have to breathe without someone to care for her.  
  
Enkidu…  
  
Those green eyes were never look down at her so softly. There would never be someone to hold her close and tell her that she was important.  
  
The room was so cold.  
  
Everything was so cold.  
  
Her body hurt so badly.  
  
Everything hurt so badly.  
  
The being had asked her what she would wish for if she could have wished for anything. They had asked her for her one true wish…  
  
She hoped they were happy.  
  
Wherever they were now, hopefully not in the bottom of the ocean, whatever that was; she hoped they were happy and with their friend…  
  
Their friend…  
  
She couldn’t even remember their name.  
  
_I want to die_ , she thought quietly, letting the pain consume her.


	15. Command Spell: Repair

The sound of pressure met their ears.  
  
The flickering light above them was unmistakable.  
  
Slowly, from a thousand different directions, they could feel their body hitting the shore. Fragmented and aching, they moved. The thing about clay was that it was composed of so much moisture. It could not simply be heated back up. Gilgamesh had known this during his reign, during their ventures into the Ceder forest.  
  
Already, as Enkidu moved piece by piece towards one another, they could see their body showing cracks and fissures along the smooth surface. They need to be careful about this.  
  
All beings had weakness.  
  
The mages had simply found theirs.  
  
Still, they couldn’t simply wallow any longer than they already had.  
  
Hakuno was taken. She was missing. Already, there had been an unknown amount of time having passed. Hakuno could have been anywhere. She could have been hurt or tortured further. They could have undone all of the progress that they had made in building the young girl’s spirit up.  
  
They closed their eyes, reaching out only to feel a wall between them. Wherever she was, her mana was pushed back. She couldn’t reach back out to them. She couldn’t help them at this time.  
  
“Enki. Ninsun.” Enkidu closed their connected eye, feeling their face slowly coming together. “Please…”  
  
The sounds of the waves behind them continued to crash against the shore where their body had washed up. They still had another eye beneath the waves. They’d need to retrieve that soon.  
  
The gods were not listening.  
  
The longer they waited, the more the pressure built up.  
  
This anxiety, this pressure within their clay, was only quickening as they waited. Their clay was so cracked and crumbly. It almost matched the sands on the shore. It looked too much like the dirt and filth.  
  
Their hand was together though.  
  
As Enkidu waited, they watched their hand moving. There was an arm. Two. Their torso washed up upon the shore in a chunk.  
  
Legs. Cracked and fragile in their way, but they would support them.  
  
They needed to show patience.  
  
The thought ran through their mind as they pushed their body to push its own limits.  
  
Soon enough, they would be able to pull themselves together and retrieve Hakuno. They’d be able to save her once again and take her to a real doctor. They would go somewhere with heat and sun. They’d stretch out on a beach far better than this.  
  
Soon.  
  
Their arm crumbled under the pressure of another wave. Enkidu cursed as they tried to think of a way to quicken this. They needed to get to somewhere with fresh clay and heat. They needed to rework the clay of their body for a couple hours, allow it to smooth back out. They needed to stop this before they began to flake and crumble worse.  
  
“Hakuno,” they breathed, trying to reach out again.  
  
Some mana would help with this process better than anything else. If they could just have a few moments of mana transfer, they’d be able to be repaired. Then they could get away from this precarious situation and the icy waves.  
  
Their other eye washed up finally. Enkidu sighed.  
  
The air didn’t go down the half frozen torso very well.  
  
“Hak-kuno…”  
  
_Enki?_  
  
Bless all the gods and Gilgamesh.  
  
“Hakuno… Mana.”  
  
_It hurts, Enki._  
  
They had taken her to another hospital. They didn’t even need to ask. There was little doubt now. Wherever the mages had gone, they were going to burn the place down, carry out their master and let the others feel the opposite of their magecraft talents.  
  
“Command spell, Hakuno.”  
  
_What do I command?_  
  
“Repair.”  
  
They could hear her struggling to speak, but there it was. A command to repair and hurry to her. They couldn’t help but appreciate the second part of that spell. There was no question that they were going to hurry. They needed to find her once again. She needed to be safe.  
  
The mana flowed forth, smoothing and heating at their body. Within moments, they were combining all the parts of themselves back together properly. They were sitting up, finally able to sit up properly. They shifted their neck, looking around at the beach around them before they climbed to their feet. The canvas that was blowing from the side of the buildings was wrapped around their frame.  
  
Stepping onto the roads a few meters from the water, Enkidu closed their eyes.  
  
She was south. Thankfully south. The place where she had been before was far north so that meant it was a different place. It was different people.  
  
They would hurry in a moment. Right now, they needed to finish the repair request. Wandering along the shore, they looked for signs of a truck or building material. A construction site would have clay. They would have something they could use for their body. The mana had helped, but it wouldn’t remove the cracks. Their face, their arms; everything was cracked. The mana’s heat would keep them stable, but there was still work to do.  
  
So much work, Enkidu thought, seeing the mounds of dirt and dug up earth just on the other side of some buildings. There was only one thing more beautiful than the mound of clay that was piled up near the waters. The pile of clay was enormous though, reaching up towards the heavens as Enkidu grew closer. Their hand pressed against it, pulling at the colder clay until they could feel it.  
  
Warmth.  
  
The clay had retained the heat from the sun.  
  
Enkidu pushed themselves into it, welcoming the comforts of the fresh interior clay. They rolled their shoulders, pushing themselves deeper and deeper. It was better than anything they had felt in the last few hours. Such a safe space, built for their enjoyment alone.  
  
They moved their hands over the surface of their skin, feeling the clay mixing with their own. They welcomed it all in, combining and molding with it.  
  
Their canvas cloth was replaced around their person after leaving the warmth.  
  
Their eyes drifted towards the south.  
  
Once more smooth skinned and without flaw, Enkidu faced towards the rising sunlight.  
  
“Hakuno.” Even their voice sounded better than it had before. Strength and confidence could be heard in the tone. They could feel themselves waiting, listening.  
  
_“Enki?”_  
  
“I will be there soon.”  
  
_“I’m so glad… I thought you had died… I don’t know why.”_  
  
Thought they’d died?  
  
Enkidu found their feet moving over the earth quickly now. Their eyes were set on the distance, their senses reaching out for any indication of what was going on. They could feel her in just there, just beyond the horizon, but something was wrong.  
  
It was that last bit.  
  
The fear that they had heard in that voice. Hakuno didn’t speak like she was so feeble. She didn’t speak in almost a whisper of a tone like that. It had sounded like she was fearing something. It had sounded-  
  
No, she wasn’t forgetting.  
  
She couldn’t be forgetting.  
  
Faster.  
  
Faster yet.  
  
Enkidu threw themselves into hurrying along the streets of the next city, ignoring the humans and their senseless world. There was nothing for them in this place. Not for them and not for Hakuno. The two of them needed to be free of this world. They needed to get back into the nature of the world.  
  
They needed abandon these godless beings and get back to the world where it was still like before.  
  
Somewhere in this world, there was still a place where it was like it had been before.  
  
The trees and the forests took over once more as Enkidu felt that mana close. They could feel Hakuno’s presence, amongst many others. They leaped, landing amongst the branches in the trees. Their eyes drifted towards the area.  
  
A white roof was in the distance.  
  
There.  
  
Their human was just there, hidden away and hurt.  
  
They went from branch to branch, landing upon that ceiling before they pressed their face to the metal. Humans and their strange homes. They would never understand the issues that there had been before. Nothing had been wrong with the mud and wood buildings that had been erected before.  
  
This one was of steel and manmade filth to keep in the heat. It felt wrong to their hands.  
  
“Can you see the sun, Hakuno?”  
  
Silence.  
  
Her mana was there though. They moved to the side of the roof, looking in and seeing the window ajar.  
  
They slipped in, trading their canvas fabric for one of the coats that they found. They moved into the hall, staring around at the empty halls.  
  
There was very little in this place.  
  
Files upon files were stored away in rooms that they passed.  
  
A few humans had gathered in another room, talking to one another quietly. Their eyes were on the information they had on the table between them.  
  
Enkidu didn’t spare them more than a glance, wandering forward.  
  
More empty rooms.  
  
More rooms with papers.  
  
Nothing in the place seemed like a hospital. If anything, it felt like the buildings they had sensed in Fuyuki. The reflective buildings in the city had been similar to this in feeling.  
  
Further into this place they went. They climbed down the stairs, meandering into new hallways devoid of the sun’s light.  
  
Their eyes skimmed over a woman in one of the rooms, arguing with more of those black suited people like upstairs.  
  
Neither of the two felt like they had any real power.  
  
Enkidu carried on.  
  
A door at the end of the hall was barred. Red was painted around the frame, warnings written across the metal door in bold writing. A couple of strange bubbles were hanging from the sides of the door.  
  
But Hakuno was just beyond that room. Enkidu looked up, noting the strange textured ceiling.  
  
Rather than take the hallways any further…  
  
They moved into an empty room, pushing at the ceiling only to smile. The ceiling was able to be pushed up. Each of those strange rectangles were tiles. They could climb in there too. The space was dusty, a gathering of filth and dead insects could be found here and there. Enkidu closed their eyes again, moving forward.  
  
They didn’t bother to lift any of the tiles until they were over that mana signature. Their eyes drifted shut, their body moving on instinct.  
  
And then they were there.  
  
The tile was pulled back, the girl’s slumbering face was covered in a clear mask, a tube going into her mouth.  
  
Enkidu moved quietly, climbing down and looking around carefully.  
  
It didn’t seem that the humans of this place had set anything in place to keep an eye on the child.  
  
Their hands went to the tube, pulling it slowly from her throat. The mask went next, being set aside before they looked over her.  
  
They had lost more time than they had thought.  
  
New scars were along her frame. Small lines showed where the humans had stitched the skin back together. These senseless beasts had dared to harm her in this manner.  
  
No human would dissect a fellow human so eagerly, leaving them in this state.  
  
Those brown eyes were open now, looking over at him.  
  
“You are a beautiful sight for sore eyes,” Enkidu murmured.  
  
“E-enki…” She was trying to lift her arms. They must have been sore from the wickedness of this place. They moved onto the bed, wrapping their arms around her and holding her close. The blankets needed to remain around her, but they could hug her. They could let her know that there was still hope.  
  
Her mana flared, if only slightly. A spark went off around her wrists, where her arms were…  
  
Enkidu tore at the bonds, letting them fall to the floor as Hakuno whimpered slightly.  
  
They had bound her up. Another set of shackles were around her ankles.  
  
All of that mana was flowing once more and it flowed like a warm wave over them. Enkidu smiled against her, letting it come and go as it may. The lines on her skin were thinning, leaving the stitching without a job to do now.  
  
“I thought… I thought you were…”  
  
“I’m fine. I’m your Enkidu,” Enkidu murmured. “I am your servant. I am always going to be here to protect you.”  
  
Or at least to do so at the best of their abilities. They would do better in the future. They would be better in the future. She would not have to suffer.  
  
They needed to save her from-  
  
“The doctors think that my doing magic causes the memory problem.” Hakuno murmured to them softly. “I think… I think I’m not supposed to do magic. It’s making my parents upset.”  
  
“Do not think about them.”  
  
Hakuno’s face pressed against their chest a little more as they settled in for the moment. “The doctor said I’m doing better… I think… I think I need to stay here.”  
  
Stay?  
  
That seemed like a bad plan.  
  
That was a bad plan-  
  
Well, they hadn’t seen anything more than the strange contraptions on Hakuno. The warnings had been to keep out, but they hadn’t said anything…  
  
“I don’t want you hurt,” Enkidu murmured to her gently.  
  
“I don’t think I can avoid it. The doctor said that I could be of use soon.” She frowned a little despite saying that, “I don’t know what he meant, but he didn’t seem angry…”  
  
“I won’t leave you while you want to be here,” Enkidu replied, kissing her forehead. “If you would like to stay, then we shall see what this doctor can do, but I do not like it here. I don’t trust these doctors any more than I trust the ones from before.”  
  
“Enkidu,” Hakuno leaned against them. “My memory is so fuzzy. Can you tell me how we met?”  
  
The strange hollow sound that escaped them was short, cut off as he saw those eyes dim. They leaned in close and shook their head.  
  
“We met… we met in a field of flowers.”  
  
“What do flowers look like?”  
  
Oh no.  
  
Enkidu pulled the bundled girl into their arms, letting her curl up properly against them. “I will show you them at some point, but we met outside this place. We met where the sun is warm and the trees are so high that they reach the sky. We’ll go there when you decide that you want to leave this place.”  
  
Hakuno nodded, snuggling against them more.  
  
“Do you want to hear some stories until you go back to sleep?”  
  
The girl nodded quietly.


	16. Wish Granter

Enkidu found themselves hidden above the ceiling tiles, watching.

There was nothing else to do but watch as the doctors came in and out. More than one, although Hakuno simply slept a good portion of the time. They watched, waiting to see what the doctor was doing. 

His voice seemed soft though. He never touched anywhere unnecessarily. 

The baths given to Hakuno were thorough but done by the nurses. 

There was something wrong though. 

It was like an itch in the back of their mind. Seeing Hakuno tied down for most of the time, seeing her look up at the doctors and struggle with names at times; there was something wrong. 

But the doctor was so gentle with her. 

“Don’t, Enki…” Hakuno murmured softly to them, shaking her head. 

“I just want to talk to the man for a moment.” Enkidu dropped down once the doctors had left. They straightened their robes once again, stretching. “He wants to help you, you said. If I speak to them, maybe we can both come up with a solution. You should be able to go outside, Hakuno. Children need air.” 

Children need a lot of things, but the outdoors was a start. 

“Enkidu, please…” Hakuno shifted against the bonds she had on. 

“What is it?” 

“I have a bad feeling. Don’t talk to him.” 

A bad feeling? 

She had been having nightmares. Endless ones of torture and pain. She spoke of steel walls and purple hair in a low murmur, crying into their arms. Whatever she was dreaming, it was no doubt connected to her time before when she had been in the asylum. 

“Hakuno,” Enkidu urged, “allow me to speak to him. We are adults. We will fix the problems and make it so that you are cured and adventuring into the world in no time.” 

“Enki…”

“Can you be brave for me?” Enkidu leaned over her, tucking a bit of hair behind her ear. “You were the one who was brave enough to want to be cured in this place. If you would like, I would like to be brave as well. I will talk to your doctor, encourage them to let me be here to hold your hand when you are being treated. Perhaps you need someone here more often.” 

Hakuno nodded, but her expression remained pained. “My head hurts.” 

“I know it does. Let me talk to the doctor.” 

They settled beside the bed, waiting. 

Time was ticking by quietly. 

Hakuno drifted back to sleep after a few minutes, no doubt trouble mentally by what was occurring. It had been a while since they had taken much energy from the little mage, but taking too much when her mind was so weak was dangerous. 

No, best to leave her be. 

Enkidu glanced her way, watching her rest. 

She was so innocent. She deserved a room in the sunlight. They would persuade the doctor to get her out of this room. Put her where the sun shone down and where the breeze could meet her. She needed the sun and the moon, the stars and the sounds of nature. 

Nothing was meant to be trapped in such a place as this. 

“Alright, Hakuno.” The door opened, bringing Enkidu away from the thoughts beginning to stir. 

Their eyes drifted to the doctor’s. 

“…Who are you? The nurses are not to let anyone down here.” 

“Before that, there is something more important that we must discuss doctor-“ 

“GUARDS!” 

“Wait!” Enkidu hurried after the man as he turned tail, chasing him down the hallway. There were sounds coming from the walls now. Enkidu could see a gate lowering at the other end of the hall. 

There was no time to let the man get hit by the lowering gate, they reached forth with their chains, wrapping them around the man’s feet. They began to pull the man back. 

“We must discuss your patient, you foolish man.” 

The man looked back at them, those eyes darkening as he found himself pulled closer. The more Enkidu tried to get him away, the more a nagging feeling began to form. They could see the man reaching into his pocket. 

“You work with the Association then? You think you can just take my patient? Do you know what kind of benefits this research could have?” The man put something in his mouth, biting down a moment before he rolled something towards Hakuno’s room. 

“What-“

“Tell the others to go to hell. I won’t let my knowledge and research be passed out.” 

A crash came behind them. Enkidu turned, finding the lights going out. The door to Hakuno’s room-

They didn’t even pause, releasing the doctor and running for the fallen debris from the exploding object. They tore at the ceiling debris and walls, yanking pieces back. They called out to Hakuno, but the girl wasn’t answering. 

They should have listened to her. 

Gods, but they should have listened. 

They had warned Gilgamesh of feelings. They had tried to tell the man of horrors to come only to find it still coming to pass. 

“Hakuno!” 

A small movement. Enkidu climbed over the filth and wrapped their arms around the freed girl. Her bindings had become unattached, her mana was flowing violently in her body. Even as they held her, they could feel her body convulsing. Something was going horribly wrong. 

“Shhhh,” Enkidu urged, holding her tightly to their person. 

What could they do? The doctor-

Even thinking, they knew the doctor had done something to himself. The thing they had put in their mouth… 

“Hakuno let me have some of your power.” 

The mana came immediately, flowing into their veins. Closing their eyes, Enkidu longed for one thing. 

The pain and shaking needed to stop. 

Hakuno went still in their arms. 

“Hakuno?” 

Enkidu pulled back, looking down at her and pausing. Their fingers went to her neck. Her heart had stopped. 

Denial ran thick in their veins. They held the girl closer, pushing back with all of the mana that was still in them. She needed to be breathing. She needed to live. 

Their body seemed to change. 

There wasn’t a way to describe what was happening. It felt like so much energy was once again running through them. Hakuno’s heart began to beat. A coughing escaped her as they held her close. Small hands held their robes as they simply tried to comprehend what had happened. 

They had made a wish and it had been granted. 

It didn’t make sense. 

The grail was not here. There was no healing magic that they knew of. Hakuno wouldn’t know magic either, nor would she be able to perform such magics if she were dead. 

The sounds of people pulling up the gates in the hallway could be heard. Enkidu moved Hakuno back into her bed, tucking her safely back under the sheets before they returned to the ceiling. 

They had made a mistake in trying to talk to the doctor. 

They wouldn’t speak again. 

As soon as Hakuno was cured, they would take her away from this place and she could live properly. In the meantime though, they needed to understand what had happened. 

Looking at their hands, they tried to think. 

Had it been something unique to them? 

If… 

If they had enough magic, could they grant wishes? 

Enkidu leaned against the tile more, watching the nurses order for the room to be cleaned up and for new sheets. One of the nurses held their master close, ordering another to right the room so that they could have her remain. 

“The doctor has been selfish, the other said so,” the nurse complained. “He must have decided that he had found something the world did not deserve to know.”


	17. Monotony

_”I have a bad feeling. Don’t talk to him.”_

Pain lanced through her. So very much pain, poking and prodding. She wasn’t sure if she was supposed to scream anymore. She was so scared of making a sound. She could see the pain in the eyes that looked down at her. She could feel her mana pushing at her arms and her legs. 

The nurses had bound her tighter, increasing the binds since she had ‘escaped’ before. 

Every time they were loosened, it felt like they were tighter the next time that they were put on. She could see the green and knew that the pain would change for a while. 

“Hakuno…” 

She didn’t want to hear that name anymore. 

Still, she couldn’t say that she hated the being coming to her. She didn’t hate the rush of peace that went through her body when they would drop down to meet with her. She didn’t hate the feeling of those lips pressing against her wrists and ankles. 

The being was too soft though. They were too kind. 

She wanted someone in the universe that would make her feel frustration and anger like the nurses felt. She wanted someone who would push her, but she didn’t want to give up the moments of peace. In a world filled with agony, she succumbed to tears at the feel of the being’s hands on her shoulders and back. 

“Give me your magic,” the being murmured to her time and time again. 

It would help, giving them what she could. She wished she could drain all of it from her body, give it to the being and finally be at peace. Her head didn’t hurt so much when they did this. 

Those gentle hands would work their way through her hair. That soft voice would talk about the feel of the wind running through their hair. They would talk about a world of colors and sounds. 

Leaves, like great green hands, would reach forth from the arms of trees, trying to capture the fluffy pillow like clouds in the skies. 

They would talk about the skies changing colors, turning bold shades of red and blue. They would talk about how the night would fill with thousands of twinkling lights, all dancing to celebrate the night. They would talk about the sounds of animals in the forests, of strange hooting and soft scuttling across the floors of the earth. 

Her floors were cold to the touch, but there were warm floors, Enkidu told her. 

Her body was given needles and fluids, making her body ache and her mind spin in circles. Yet there was a world that was filled with soft blankets and beautiful waters that splashed up to meet you. 

Her screams that came when the doctors took her now would hopefully never reach this being. 

As soon as she found herself thinking the hope, she prayed for it to be true. 

Let the being know nothing but happiness. 

Let their world be filled with soft sheets and happy waters. 

She didn’t want to lose the hope in their eyes. 

She wanted to see them smile more. She wanted to see them laugh. The small sounds that left them when they were happy had her craving for it to be louder. They needed to proudly make those sounds. 

Laugh loudly, she told him one evening. 

The sound brought the guards. 

Hakuno bit her lip at the needles that came from that split second of peace. 

Her eyes drifted up to the being. 

She needed to be strong for them. 

How long had they been here? How had they gotten to this point? 

She could see the outside world in her mind. She could feel the ground and see colors, but nothing was forming solid memory anymore. There were names, names she could connect with brief images. Yet, no matter how hard she tried, she could not remember being out there. 

“You are ill,” one of the doctors told her. 

Was she that sick? 

“I want to get better,” Hakuno told Enkidu on another evening. 

She would find a way to get better. She would find a way to walk out of this place. Struggling would mean that she would take longer to get better. She stopped herself from moving a muscle. 

She relaxed on demand. She begged for someone, something to help her. 

More magic was poured into Enkidu. 

He could take it all. She didn’t want it. 

She could last a little longer if she could just get better. 

The figure turned up at the edge of her bed and Hakuno looked over at them, smiling softly. “I’m going to get better,” she told them. 

“What for?” 

She closed her eyes, the question not even registering. “I’m going to get better…”

The pain worsened. 

Time passed on. 

“We have no wish to have a child that cannot be treated,” she heard the voices snarl. “Better to put her out of her misery and try again with a new-“

“You know you cannot have children, ma’am. Even if you did, the magic circuits she has are too promising to simply lose. Whatever is left of your line, it is with-“

“Can you not do anything? She is a useless body at this point and you all lost her before. You know how long it took to find her? The Association can just be told she went missing again. Besides, she can’t remember our names and she’s becoming defiant.” 

“Ma’am.” 

That was… her parents. 

Yes, she could remember that. 

The figures from before, they had been her family members. Hakuno glanced at the door, trying to think. They were upset because she forgot everything. Wasn’t that it? Had she been close to freedom? What had the outside world looked like? Where the halls larger than here? She could hear her parents yelling at the doctors. They were always arguing. 

A hand wrapped around hers. Cool to the touch, it stroked her hand softly as the voices began to leave the room, the sound of footsteps could be heard stomping down the hall. 

“Hakuno… Hakuno, are you awake?” 

“You need to listen to me!” A voice screamed outside the room. 

Hakuno slowly glanced at the being at her side, watching those pale green eyes stare towards the door. A set of claws began to form around her hand, the being going still. It was like they forgot how to be human sometimes. It must be hard to be clay, doomed to be forever perfect and a wealth of knowledge. 

Beautiful, wonderful-

“Enkidu,” she called softly. “Do you think… Do you think I should die?” 

“Master?” 

She looked towards the door. “They’re always like that, I think. No matter how hard I try, they always say things like that to the doctors. They’ve tried so hard to make me get better and to try to find ways to clone me or change me. But I stay sick.” 

“I don’t like the doctors here, Hakuno.” 

“I don’t either, Enkidu…”

“Can we-“

She gave them a look, watching the being sigh. 

Enkidu moved a chair to her side, continuing to hold her hand as they settled cross legged on the seat. “Do you want me to tell you a story?” 

“I don’t think any story could comfort me right now. Thank you though.” She smiled their way. “I just keep thinking, Enki. What if I’m not human? What if I am just an abomination and there’s no hope for making me anything more than that?” 

“I thought you had gotten past this argument,” they chastised. “You are more human than me.” 

She laughed, the sound making her pause. 

Enkidu beamed. “You finally laughed again for me.” 

“I don’t know why…” Hakuno felt something run down her face. “I shouldn’t have. That was mean to laugh at. It’s just- You’re more human than I am, Enkidu. You always smile and laugh. You can travel outside or anywhere else you want to go. I’ll never get to truly be free with you, will I?” 

“We’ll leave this place soon,” Enkidu promised. 

They couldn’t promise that though. There was no way to escape this place. This was somewhere for the worst of souls. This was where she belonged. Enkidu was the one that needed to get out. She just hoped she could give him enough magic for that. 

“I don’t know if I want to leave,” Hakuno confessed. “What would I even do out there?” 

At some point, her room had had a window. Clear blue skies. Orange sunsets. Deep blue evenings. Black nights. She couldn’t see a building or the sun from here. Just the colors in the windows near the top of the wall. It felt like this room and the hallways and operating rooms were all that were in this world now though. Perhaps they had destroyed the outside world. 

“I want to show you some of my favorite things when we leave,” Enkidu told her, moving to climb onto the bed with her. She slid over to help them, wrapping her arms around their waist as they hugged her. Their lips pressed against her forehead. “There’s so many things out there. There’s a natural favorite, food. You remember the taste of a few things, but there are more. There are butter cakes and forbidden drinks that would make you feel warm from the top of your head to the tips of your toes. There are all these different animals, with claws and fangs and gentle hearts. I ran for a long time with wolves.” 

“Wolves?” 

“They’re these furry dog-like animals with big fangs and claws. They roam in packs that are composed of their families and they hunt other animals to survive.” 

“Did they hurt each other?” 

“Sometimes,” Enkidu told her. “You see, real families aren’t about always getting along or always fighting and hurting one another. They’re about growing together in a way that let’s both pain and happiness enter the heart. They protect one another and they love one another, but sometimes they do things that one of the others doesn’t like. For the wolves, they fought one another to find out who was the strongest. The strongest wolf was the one that entered fights first and howled to the others when trouble was coming.” 

“I don’t think people work that way.” 

“They do. When you have a real one, they do.” Enkidu gestured towards the yelling. “You don’t have a real family yet, Hakuno. You have a painful group of relatives. Don’t be ashamed of that, since it means you will become stronger for a real family. Just remember not to let them hurt you in here.” The being pressed a hand to near her shoulder, to where she could feel her heart beating. 

“You’re being cheesy.” 

“I mean it though. You have a good heart. I knew it the moment you said you wanted to wish for me to live again.” 

They had told her that wasn’t a real wish. The being had come in closer though, telling her how to build a contract and allowing her to take the command spells, now safely located on the back of her neck. Her hair thankfully covered them from the doctors. 

Later, they had sat together for several nights while she had been ignored by doctors, reviewing what she could wish for. They had settled on her becoming well again so they could go outside. 

But truly, she still just wanted to help Enkidu be free. Whether they wanted to roam with wolves again or travel into the world outside, it didn’t matter. 

“Hakuno,” Enkidu called softly. “You know I cannot sense what you are thinking.” 

“Sorry, Enki.” Hakuno looked up at them, seeing the being shake their head. 

“I will bring you something from outside.” 

“What?” 

“I want to bring you something from outside,” they told her. “I am going to find the best flower that I can and bring it back to you. I’m going to put it somewhere where the doctors can’t find it, but where you can look at it every single day. Maybe it will help you remember things better. You were improving while I had you free.” 

“Enkidu…” It wouldn’t work. 

Her family had brought her toys, according to the doctors. When they had cared, they had apparently tried to bring her things to spark her memory. Instead, she had stared at them, crying at times. 

“Enkidu, I don’t think that’s a good idea.” 

“So my friend,” Enkidu interrupted. “His name was Gilgamesh. Did you know that?” 

“Gigamesh?” 

“Gil-ga-mesh.” The being sounded out the name, grinning more. “Get used to the name. You’ll hear it a lot from me. I see that you have forgotten my stories so I’m going to fix that right now. A human must always know who their king is and my king is your king because he’s the greatest king of them all. You see, I was found with the wolves by a woman who introduced me to humanity. When she found out I was made by the gods, she told me that there was one person I had to meet. That person was Gilgamesh.” 

“I don’t want to-“

“Shhhh, don’t interrupt. We’re not even to the best part. I already know you love this story so listen close and cater to his image by reacting the same amazed way.” 

The being sat up, pulling their hair into their hands and beginning to braid it. “Gilgamesh was this all too powerful king. He had hair more golden than the sun. He had muscles that made even I look weak. Then he had this smile- you would have been so mad at him if he smiled at you like that. Always smiling like he knew something others didn’t. Just made you so mad.” 

“If he made you mad, then why did you like him?” 

“Gilgamesh was really good with words. Plus, he had a good heart.” Enkidu shrugged. “You don’t find humans with good hearts often, Hakuno. You have to cherish those that you find. His- his was beaten and trained from the cradle to be hidden away. Instead, he showed that smile. That diplomat angering smile that made people go mad.” 

She could only imagine Enkidu ignoring that smile like they ignored her lies. The being probably sat by the king on his throne and teased and ignored him until they found the real king Gilgamesh. 

“When my lady friend took me to Uruk to meet the king, I ended up running into him in the center of the market…”

Her eyes closed, body leaning against the servant as they continued their story. 

The next morning, she opened her eyes, finding herself alone and strapped to the monitors. She watched the heartrate machine show the beating in her chest. The random numbers next to the lines meaning nothing to her. Her gaze went to the door, watching the two doctors outside the room. 

“They left her?” 

“Signed her over to us. If things go south, we’ll have to just do what the director wants to do. We’ve done so with a couple other patients. It would preserve her until we could-“

“Let’s see what the doctor wants to do. He has a few ideas that might work.” 

“I suppose.” 

“My only concern is if the family comes back.” 

If her family was gone, then they weren’t coming back. Hakuno shook her head as she stared up at the ceiling. Her gaze went to something in one of the tiles. 

A small, red thing stuck out from one of the ceiling tiles. It had little antennae like the machines, but they were limp, like they were made like her fingers. Several curved sheets of color were around the antennae, like one of Enkidu’s hugs in the evenings. 

A flower. 

A small, red flower. 

Hakuno bit her lip, feeling the warmth coming to her face as her lips turned upwards. 

“Enkidu,” she whispered. 

“The family is gone. They were seen on the cameras in the hospital, but they entered Hakuno’s room and never left. Not that they’re in there though.” The doctor tapped on the door. “We looked. They just vanished. Gun and everything.” 

“Glad they didn’t manage to get Hakuno.” 

“She got lucky. Guardian angel or something.” 

Hakuno saw the figure in the corner. Enkidu shook their head, holding up a finger as they held their bloodied clothes in their hands. 

“Thank you,” Hakuno whispered to the being. 

“Let’s leave here soon, Hakuno.” The being whispered back. “There’s a whole field of those not far from here. I want to show them to you. We will be free again soon.” 

“Thank you for saving me again.” 

“Shhh, Hakuno…” 

There were footsteps approaching the room again. The being climbed up into the ceiling tiles once more, disappearing into the darkness. 

“Hakuno,” one of the doctors looked in, finding her awake. “You’re awake.” 

“Where are my parents?” 

“They’re… traveling.” The doctor came into the room and smiled. It was one of her stranger ones, one who had never smiled before. The man adjusted his seat, setting a cup down upon the nightstand. “I have a task for you.” 

“A task?” 

“Do you think you could pour energy into this cup for me? I think if we had you pour all your energy into this cup, we may be able to have you get better.” 

She did this for Enkidu.

She nodded, moving to press her hands to the cup. She closed her eyes, feeling the cup beginning to warm in her hands. 

The man moved a step back and waited, watching. 

Agony sliced through her as power lanced through her. The bindings were still on. Her eyes flickered to the doctor, but he laughed, nodding. 

"Feed it, little one. I'll have a grail in an hour at this rate." 


	18. Grail Wish

They couldn’t stay hidden.

Their body moved before their mind could think about the consequences. Their clay expanded, their eyes could only see red. 

The device on the young woman clattered to the side, the girl falling back against the bed as the man before him laughed. 

There were words coming out of his mouth, but Enkidu could not hear them. 

This human was hurting their human. 

This human was daring to touch their human. 

“Magnificent!” 

There was the sound of guards coming. 

Once again, it was fight time. 

Enkidu let the clay expand again, growing larger, large enough to be able to use their fists as weapons to hammer down the useless vermin before their eyes. There was screaming in their ears. There was the smell of blood rising in the room. 

But they couldn’t do this again. 

Human after human was falling before their eyes. Their sounds were senseless. Their pleas were nothing but buzzing to their senses. 

It was the same way that the girl’s parents had gone. 

Pleading and crying, attacking and screaming for others. 

They hadn’t shown mercy then. They hadn’t needed to show mercy. 

Where was the mercy when the girl had not known what the earth felt like beneath her feet? 

Where was the mercy when the girl had not known what a comforting touch was like? 

Who held her when she cried? 

Who loved her when she felt like a monster? 

For humans, they were all inhuman, all monstrous and unworthy of the air that filled their lungs. They were all unworthy of being around a child like this one, that marveled at the feel of a tree beneath her fingertips and saw so much beauty in the single flower that she came upon. 

The doctor was grabbing his device, running for it as other mages came into the room. Enkidu could see the man calling out for others. 

Which was fine. 

Let them call for others. Let them plead and beg for more people to come. 

Each of them would falter before them. 

The magic was flowing strong through their veins. Their body was transforming a bit again, taking on the original form from before. Their antlers were slamming against more of the humans. Their limbs smashed and destroyed all that they came in contact with. 

Some of the clay oozed from their body, landing on the humans and hardening. 

A few gasped as the clay landed on their shoulders or neck, unable to remove it. 

Others found that the clay landed on their face, blinding and suffocating them. 

Yet there were still more mages. Alarms were going off. 

A selection of lights were going off in the area. 

Just a bit further…

Enkidu felt the first cold shot hit them and roared loudly. 

The ice mages were here. 

They gathered immediately, blocking off the direction that the doctor had escaped to. They were aiming their magecraft in their direction and Enkidu felt a rush of fear break through their body. 

They would kill. 

“En…ki…”

Enkidu looked back, feeling a couple attacks hit their arm. 

“I command… you to hide…”

The light from her command spell was blinding, enough so that they could release some of their clay to the floor and scamper for her room. They threw the door shut, climbing up and into the ceiling. 

And then they were crawling. 

Their mind was racing, cursing them with every inch that they went. Their body was longing to be able to go back. They didn’t want to hide. They didn’t want to leave the girl to her lonesome. 

Glancing down, they knew that the girl had made the right choice though. 

There was clay unable to mold, hindering their movements. A trickle of water from the ice on them was leading back the way they had come. 

The humans would know that they were getting around in the ceiling. 

They would know that they needed to move Hakuno. 

The crawlspace was getting more and more difficult to maneuver through. Sitting near an elevator shaft, Enkidu breathed deeply, trying to calm for a moment. 

There was only so much mana that they had without Hakuno. 

The wounds they had taken from the ice attacks would need treatment. 

Then there was trying to figure out how to save Hakuno. 

They had to save her. 

Enkidu stared at their hands, trying to think. 

If only Gilgamesh were here. 

It had been so long since they had been able to fight beside their friend. The king had been able to see through their body’s talents, noting the weaknesses and accommodating for them. If ice had been used by the magicians or priests of those times, Gilgamesh had been able to use his soldiers or his own wits to outsmart them. 

He had let his lions attack one group of ice magicians before. 

He had plunged a fiery torch into them during another attack, causing the ice to melt as their body had burst into flames. 

This place did not have torches though. 

Even if it had, they had to be careful about Hakuno. 

Maybe…

Enkidu pressed their hands to their body, closing their eyes. 

_Heal._

It was a command, much like their master had done earlier in telling them to run. It was a plea much like the one that they had done on the behalf of Hakuno before. 

The wounds on their body were healing. 

Quickly. 

They watched, thinking about what the other had said before. 

_”I’ll have a grail in an hour at this rate._

Were they themselves…?

They had wished for Hakuno to heal. 

They had pleaded to the gods for so many things, but it had been her mana that had flowed thick in their body. 

Their eyes went towards the direction they had crawled from. 

If they could, then they could be a grail. 

They could make a wish for their master. 

Hakuno had told them that she had thought of a dream worth fighting for. She had shown him her book and wished to meet Gilgamesh and have Gilgamesh with them. 

Their king would not want to see them again though. 

If she got to be around him, perhaps be able to live within Uruk and enjoy Siduri’s buttercakes and Gilgamesh’s gardens, then maybe she would find happiness for herself. 

If they went too, the gods would be after them. 

If they went, the king would be distracted, caught up too much to be able to have another friend. 

No…

Perhaps they weren’t being honest with themselves. 

They didn’t want to see Gilgamesh again. 

They didn’t want Gilgamesh to know that they had failed, weakened since leaving the king’s side. They didn’t want him to fight them and end up watching the joys of a good fight drain from the king’s eyes. 

Hakuno was full of so much power. 

She was so determined when she fought. 

They could still see the look in her eyes when she had set the flowers and the woods aflame. They could still see how angry she had been, how fearful she had felt. 

The girl was barely alive in terms of pleasures and happiness, but she had desired something with all of her. 

She had barely come to know anything about the world, yet she had held the determination to keep going. 

She protected them, even though they weren’t human. 

The girl would stand proudly at their king’s side. She would find praises being thrown upon her head, chuckles ringing in her ears as she became more accustomed to politics around the kingdom. 

Enkidu turned, heading for the girl’s room again. 

They went slow, thinking more about this. 

Gilgamesh would probably make her like Siduri, placing her at his side as an assistant. If she pleased him enough, he would be making her the one in charge when he decided to go on his hunts and cause trouble around Uruk. 

She would learn to throw sass at him. She would give him bemused looks when he went too far and would no doubt roll her eyes like Siduri did when he voiced bad ideas. 

She would intrigue him. 

Perhaps the girl would become his heir. 

He would no doubt never find a woman with the way he was. 

His wives were worthless. His offspring were nonexistent. 

Enkidu glanced down through the vents, seeing the small girl resting in her bed. 

Dropping down, they moved to her bedside and pressed their hands to the girl’s chest. 

Their wish was going to be a big one. 

It was alright though. They would ensure that they made the dream foolproof. 

“I command,” Enkidu murmured to the room, “that you get to meet my king. I demand that you get to travel through the stars and see what pleasure and happiness are about. I won’t ask for the path to be too easy, but I command for my friend Gilgamesh, king of Uruk, to come to your side and for you to remain at his. Stand at his side when I can’t, Hakuno. Be who he needs.” 

Their lips pressed against the girl’s hands, feeling the surge of power and mana leaving them. 

They glanced back towards the door again. 

Their hands lowered Hakuno’s. 

They moved. 

Quickly. 

Their feet pattered across the tiles, their hands forced the elevator doors to open. 

The pressed all the buttons, glancing in each hallway until they heard the voice of that doctor. 

The man would kill their human. 

The humans all over this building would kill their human. 

Their hands opened the gates, feeling their power weakening further. 

Too much power had gone to Hakuno, it seemed. 

Their mind wasn’t on the blood that began to pour as they started the assault. They could hear more alarms going off. They could hear screaming. The doctor’s face was before them, twisted in a look of outrage and cold fear. 

Hakuno would smile at the king’s side though. 

She would lean against his side in the gardens. 

She would be led through the audience chamber to sit next to the man’s throne. 

Blood was splashing against the walls. The body in their hands was twisting grotesquely. 

She would find time to visit the gardens often, plucking flowers and growing two more in each one’s place. She would cover the man and his love of the beautiful in the things that he adored so much. 

The universe would be set to rights finally. 

There wouldn’t be this ringing in their ears. 

There wouldn’t be this sobbing echoing in their mind. 

She would be so happy. 

Each limb seemed easier than the last to tear apart. The mages that entered the room? They turned back, ignoring the ice attacks as best as they could and tearing them apart as well. 

The king and the girl would lounge in the sunlight. 

They would wrestle and play with the lions. 

Standing in the midst of the gore and the violence, Enkidu found themselves leaning their head back, letting out a sound so inhuman that it would have made the stoutest man shiver and flee. 

Death. 

Anything in their way would meet their death. 

The only thing that needed happiness and life in this building was the young girl. 

More ice. 

Enkidu felt their body falter. 

Their eyes were locking on the mages coming into the hallway. 

_Enkidu._

Their body went to the window, climbing out only to climb into another room. They could feel their body shivering and cracking. 

Glancing in a mirror nearby, they could see that they needed to leave. 

Leaving would mean surrendering Hakuno though. 

They went for the elevator again, using the ceiling tiles to climb into the shaft. 

Their limbs hurt again. 

Their body pleaded for respite. 

But then, how many times had Hakuno’s body demanded respite? How many times had she suffered and cried, unable to have anyone save her? 

Her body was too damaged by these humans to be able to pull to freedom. Security near the doors was too high. They didn’t know if they could manage to get her to the doors without something happening. The tubes attached to her were foreign as well, making them hesitate to remove them in case they were important. 

They stopped at her room, looking down at the girl. 

The flower they had left her had fallen and gotten stomped on. 

They would need to find another. 


	19. Flowers for the Beautiful Soul

They slept for a while.

Their eyes opened to see the girl being carted back into the room. 

Her eyes were sunken. Her hair was thinning. 

They were wearing her body down. 

They climbed down again, once the other humans had left the room. Their arms wrapped around her body and pulled her close to them. 

“Are you in pain?” 

Her eyes were so unfocused for a while there, her tears forming and falling from her face as she glanced up towards them. 

“It’s okay…” 

They had made their wish. It would happen. The grail always granted its wish for the wishing party. They had made their wish and Hakuno would see Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh would be able to protect her far better than them. 

“You don’t have to worry,” Enkidu told her, taking her hand and pulling it close. 

The look of her tired body did something to their breathing though. They couldn’t see quite right either. A watery feeling came to their face. Their smile was hurting their face. The air was cutting at their lungs. 

“You don’t have to be sad, my friend.” 

Why did they have to be too late? 

Why couldn’t they be as strong as some of the other servants they knew existed? 

This young girl was dying and they… 

No. 

Gilgamesh would come. 

“My doctor is gone,” the girl rasped. 

They knew that. They had felt the bones of the doctor’s body break in their grasp. They had watched the life drain from the man’s eyes. It had been no different than the death of her parents. 

Violent. 

Bloody. 

Leaving no body to identify. 

“They told me today what they’re planning,” the girl whispered. Her eyes were closing, the water coming out faster. Enkidu could feel their chest aching. “The Mages Association thinks it will be best. They don’t want to lose the last of my line.” 

“They probably sense you have a servant.” 

They would find the humans, figure out how to get to them and take them-

“I have to…” The girl was choking on the air she was breathing. They leaned in, pushing more of their mana into her. They were going to run out soon. 

Where was all her mana going? What were they doing when they took her from this room? 

She felt so weak, like the blood wasn’t circulating right in her body. 

“I have to give someone up,” she told them. “I can’t remember who it is, but my heart hurts when I think about it.” 

She was… 

They had hurt her too, hadn’t they? 

Unable to help, unable to let her keep the freedom that she had tasted before. She had been given paradise and had it ripped away. It hadn’t even been paradise. She had been given a mere sliver of what life could be like. 

They were too weak. 

Enkidu glanced down at their hand holding the girl’s, watching the flawless fingers laced with the trembling and tiny fingers of the girl. There were marks from the needles that they used on her. There were points of pain and agony that would show on her skin. 

They had never been human. 

They were a tool, a faulty one. 

“I can’t lose them,” Hakuno whimpered. “I need to let them live… I want to meet their friend.” 

The sobs were coming in so hard for her. 

It hurt. 

All that pain that they had given everyone else, it had lingered, attaching more and more of a spiraling bad fate onto the girl because of them. 

Always because of them. 

They hadn’t been able to withstand the girl in pain. 

They hadn’t been able to hold back from protecting her. 

Her sobs were echoing in the room, sounding like how his body should have been. Where was their dream? Why wasn’t their dream happening? 

“Shhh,” Enkidu murmured to her. “Don’t let your face get like that. I don’t like it.” 

“I can’t,” she breathed. Her eyes seemed to widen a bit, her gaze flickering over to them before she was gasping for air. Her hands grabbed at them. “It’ll be like with your friend and you when you died.” 

No. 

“It’ll be okay,” Enkidu breathed. 

“I’ll never meet your friend,” Hakuno rasped. “We’ll never get to see anything if I…” 

They hated it. 

They hated the sound of those cries. 

Why couldn’t they make the pain stop? Why couldn’t they just tear out the agony that this small and frail body felt, leaving only the good behind? 

Why weren’t they being a better grail!? 

“I won’t let you suffer,” Enkidu vowed. 

They would have to do something. 

The humans… they were wanting to put her to sleep because of them. If they appeared before the mages, let them destroy them… 

Maybe they would let the girl remain awake. 

Maybe there would be another doctor brought in to save her. 

She could escape from this underworld of a place and see the sunlight again. She could be free to summon their king and live the life that she deserved. 

“I won’t let them put you to sleep,” Enkidu swore. “You are my other most cherished friend.” 

She was their baby, their precious treasure. 

In all of this world, there was nothing that had made them feel as responsible and as adoring as this child had made them feel. 

If there had been a moment in all of their life that they had felt like they were almost a human, it was holding her in their arms, letting her read and watching her grow. It was when they had seen her hug the tree and look at her own reflection in a mirror. 

“I’m going to make sure that you meet my friend,” Enkidu promised her. Their mind was sweeping through the options. “Let’s steal the grail from this place.” 

“We can’t.” 

It wasn’t fully formed, but the device had taken some of her mana. They could find it and give her back the mana that had been stolen. Maybe that was what was making her body like this. Maybe that was why she was feeling like her mana was being clotted in her body. 

“I’m going to do it. I’ll find it for you and-“

The girl shook her head, her eyes closing. 

“We can’t… They’ll be taking me away in the morning.” 

“Then I’ll make a wish in a different way.” 

They tightened their grip on her arm, pausing only at the sight of her wincing. 

“Please…”

Their hands let go of her, the clay shifting a little as they shook. 

They couldn’t hold her. 

They were too unstable. 

“They’ll make you kill yourself,” Hakuno breathed. “I can’t let you die.” 

They weren’t of use to her though. 

Their death could save her. 

“Shhh,” they bid, listening to the sobs begin again. 

They let her rest her head again, moving from the room to begin searching through the building. 

There were grids of electrified wires and sensors that had been screwed into place while they had been spending time with Hakuno. 

The humans hadn’t let a single moment go to waste. 

It wouldn’t matter in the end though. 

They climbed into the elevator shaft, riding the compartment with the humans up to the floor they needed. 

They climbed out of the ceiling tiles and began to look. 

It didn’t take long. 

The object had fallen behind a desk, away from others. 

Their hands wrapped around it, glancing towards the window. 

The sun was rising. 

A blood red sun was rising over the darkness of the trees, making their heart pound. 

They had to hurry. 

They had to climb down the walls of the elevator shaft. They had to crawl more slowly as humans were walking through the hallways. 

Hakuno was being moved. 

Following as best they could, they climbed onto the elevator compartment as it came to the floor. They listened to the machine as it took them deeper and deeper into the earth. 

Nature could not touch here. Life was gone from here. 

They shivered at the freezing temperatures. 

Enkidu climbed down from the ceiling as the humans went into the other room. They hurried over to the girl’s side and pressed the device to her body. 

_Do you need me-“_

_”Yes, please,” the girl told him._

_They led the way, holding her hand tightly in theirs and smiling at the feeling of excitement that they could feel coming from the girl in waves. They put her hand to the base of the tree, watching her gasp and pull it back. Her eyes flew to theirs_

_”You are so excited about something so simple,” they cooed._

_”Can it hurt me?”_

_They grinned a bit more. “If you climb and fall, yes.”_

_”Climb?” She looked dumbfounded. “I can climb the tree?”_

_She could have climbed all the trees if she merely kept that smile._

_”Do you want to try climbing? I’ll hold you the whole time.”_

They would have protected her from anything. They would have done all that was in their power to make sure that she could keep smiling like that. It was only by cruel fate that the world would see passed their limits and force them to this point. 

_”I don’t know…” The girl looked at the tree ruefully. “I want to just touch it for now.”_

_”Alright.”_

_She had looked at her hand a moment before they had found themselves chuckling. Her face was being pressed to the tree now._

So much happiness in something so simple. 

She deserved a forest of trees. She deserved to see the wolves howling in the distance and the birds cawing away in the trees. She deserved to see the monkeys, climbing and loving the trees she had admired so much. 

Enkidu closed their eyes one more time. 

“I command,” Enkidu breathed, “that you meet with Gilgamesh. Go to the moon in the sky if you must, but stay by his side. Fight with him alongside you. I wish for you and my friend to be happy together.” 

The power was waning. 

They looked at their hand, watching it crack. 

The sounds of humans were coming. 

Glancing back, Enkidu could see them in the window, rushing to get to the room again. 

They didn’t have long. 

They slammed their fists against the machines nearby, listening to the machines begin to make an obnoxious sound. They leaned over the girl and smiled. 

“I found the grail,” Enkidu murmured. “I asked for your wish.” 

They could see those brown eyes looking up at them tiredly. 

I’m going to leave the grail with you.” 

A piece of them would always remain with her, after all. They pressed their hands to her chest. Letting her have what little mana remained in them. 

“My decoy will keep the others away while the wish is being granted.” 

The device was overheating. The humans could confuse it for an actual grail of sorts if they wished. Perhaps that would help protect Hakuno’s life. 

They smiled at the sleepy face of the human. 

They pressed their lips to her cheek. 

Their mouth went to her ear to murmur to her softly. 

If only…

If only they were human. 

“I love you, Hakuno,” Enkidu murmured. 

The doors slammed open. 

The humans were preparing to come after them. 

They opened the gates, letting the chains come through the gates. 

They let their body be out of the way of Hakuno’s, allowing the gunshots to ring out and the ice magic to be cast. 

The world grew cold. 

Their eyes closed. 

They had a few flowers that they let fall into the gates, promising themselves that they would mold them into the clay they would have the next time they were summoned. 

Forever, they would summon themselves with her flowers. 

Because it was a reminder that there was a beautiful soul that existed in this world. 

And they were her flawed tool. 

I love you, Hakuno. 


End file.
